


The Second Generation of Marauders

by GayFandomShipper123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Adopted orphan character, Albus Severus Potter has anxiety, Albus and Scorpius are super duper gay for each other, Animagus character, BAMF Narcissa Malfoy, Basically if you're an Animagus you can talk to animals, Bisexual James Sirius Potter, Born Legilimens characters, Divorced! Narcissa, Draco Malfoy is a Healer at St. Mungo's, Draco Malfoy is an awesome dad, F/F, F/M, Gay Albus Severus Potter, Gay Scorpius Malfoy, Half-goblin character, James Sirius Potter definitely has the Weasley freckles, James Sirius Potter is a Good Sibling, James Sirius Potter is very bisexual, Lucius Malfoy is a complete wanker, M/M, Orphaned Character, Set after Cursed Child, but he's in Azkaban so it's okay, nobody can convince me otherwise, so much gayness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 22:59:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16274120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayFandomShipper123/pseuds/GayFandomShipper123
Summary: A fire at an orphanage leads to a drastic change in Scorpius Malfoy's life. James Potter is hiding a secret. Scorpius and Albus think they're hiding a secret, but everyone already knows. How will things change once they all get back to Hogwarts? Why can the students of Hogwarts never have one year where shit doesn't go down?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! So this is a new story I'm cooking up. I promise I'm going to try and make this one fluffier and much less angst-fuelled than my other stories! I hope you guys enjoy this story; please leave kudos and comments. It always makes my day to hear what people think of my writing. As always, if I feel like something could be triggering for something, I'll post a warning for it in the chapter notes. Stay safe, guys.
> 
> T xxx

“Kids! Come be sociable! Your cousins are here!” Ginny Potter's voice rang loud through Grimmauld Place, magically magnified so it was as if she was standing right in the room with her children, and not several floors down in the hallway, greeting the Granger-Weasley clan.

Her children groaned and packed away their exploding snap cards (or the ones that were left, anyway). They had been relaxing in the remodelled attic, which was James Potter’s bedroom. The youngest, Lily Luna Potter, skipped out of the room cheerily and slid down every single banister all the way to the ground floor where she was caught in a hug by her Uncle Ron as she flew off the end at the bottom of the stairs. Upstairs, Albus waited for his brother to finish pruning himself in the mirror on the back of the bedroom door.

“Honestly, Jay, if the past seventeen years have been any indication, you ain't gonna be able to tame your hair. I don't know why you still bother trying, to be honest.” He shrugged offhandedly at the glare James shot him in the reflection of the mirror.

“As if you don't do the same damn thing every time Scorpius comes over.” James smirked as Albus spluttered in response, his face turning scarlet.

“I don't know what in the hell you're talking about.”

“Riiiiight.” James said, straightening the collar of his shirt before turning to face his brother. “You’re not in love with Scorp. Then I'm Kreacher's long lost cousin. For the love of Merlin's sweaty right arse-cheek, Al! I know you two are not-so-secretly dating. You could save yourself a lot of aggravation and tip-toeing around by just telling Mum and Dad that you're a wand-whacker and not a cauldron-dipper, as they say. You're making yourself so scared and stressed out about something that really isn't a big deal. You know that Mum and Dad wouldn't care, right?”

The expression on Albus’s face started out as indignant, as though he was going to interrupt James at any moment, but by the end of James’s little speech, he just looked tired and a bit defeated.

“Yeah, I know that really. But it's still scary, y'know? Like, you hear all these horror stories on the Muggle news and it just plants that tiny little seed of doubt in your head. I mean, I know our family isn't like that, I mean, there's Uncle Charlie for one thing. But it's just become this big thing in my head, and I can't stop worrying about it a—” Albus was cut off abruptly as James wrapped him in a rare hug.

“I know, mate. And I can see how much it's hurting you, because it _is_ hurting you. You _and_ Scorpius. But you gotta just be brave and do it. Think of it like apparating; the journey's dark, suffocating and very very uncomfortable, but a whole other world can be waiting for you on the other side once you get there. A world where you and your boyfriend don't have to have secret Floo dates in the middle of the night when you think everybody else is asleep.”

The younger Potter boy huffed in laughter as he pulled back, and James pretended not to notice Albus wiping his eyes on the cuffs of his sweater. Albus Potter took a slightly shaky breath, and looked his older brother in the eye.

“I’m gay, James.”

“I know, Al. And it's okay.” James gave his brother a lopsided smile.

“How did you get so smart? And since when have you been sensitive and emotionally mature? And how on Earth did me insulting your hair turn into a heart-to-heart and me coming out for the first time?”

“One, I’ve always been this smart, but all anybody sees is the Quidditch Captain and they assume I'm dumb as a troll. Two, if all people think I'm going to be is a dumb Quidditch jock, what's the point in trying to convince them that I _am_ sensitive and emotionally mature? And this conversation turned into a heart-to-heart because, at the end of the day, you're my baby brother and I love you, even if I don't say it much, or nearly as often as I should. I care about you and what makes you happy. Scorpius makes you happy, and I don't want you to feel like you have to hide this part of you from people that love you unconditionally. Also, Albus Severus Potter, my hair is fucking fabulous and beyond reproach. You're just jealous that you don't have the luscious curly locks that I do.”

Albus hugged James this time.

“Thanks, Jay.”

“No problem, Albus. And listen, if you _ever_ feel worried about something and feel like you can't tell anyone, well that's dragon shite, because you always got me, understood?” James waited until Albus had nodded before carrying on. “And hey, when you decide that you're ready to tell Mum and Dad that you're gay, I'll tell them that I'm bi. That way, the focus isn't completely on you. I know how much you hate that.”

“Wait, you swing both ways?”

“Sure do. Now, let's get downstairs before Mu—”

“BOYS!!! Get your butts down here!”

James grimaced.

“Let's go, Al. I may be seventeen now, but Mum will always scare the living daylights out of me.”

“Yeah, me too. By the way, Happy Birthday, Jay.”

James just smiled to himself as he picked up his wand, grasped his brother’s hand and apparated downstairs.

*****

“James Sirius Potter! What in Merlin’s name do you think you're doing!” Harry shouted at his eldest son. James and Albus had just appeared out of thin air in the living room, startling both of their parents.

“Apparating myself and my younger brother downstairs, so as not to further infuriate our mother with our tardiness. Why, Dad? What's wrong?” James asked, faking an innocent look of confusion.

“Don’t take that tone with me, young man. Did you not consider how dangerous it could be to apparate not only yourself but your brother as well anywhere without the proper training. It’s also illegal to apparate unless you’ve passed your test! And I’m Head of The Department Of Magical Law Enforcement! How’s it going to look if I have to arrest my own son for illega—”

“But I passed my test, dad.” James said, with a wide grin on his face.

“James, come on. Don’t lie. You haven’t even taken your test yet!”

James pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to his parents. Both he and Albus were smirking.

“Icarus delivered this to me yesterday morning. I asked Kreacher to take Icarus and the letter up to my bedroom before anyone else saw it.”

“But-but why?” Spluttered Harry, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he looked up from the letter.

“I told Al that I’d passed, and we thought it would be funny to see the looks on everyone’s faces.” James shared a smirk with his younger brother standing next to him.

“And we weren’t wrong. That’s what you get when you mix Slytherin cunning with Gryffindor impulsiveness.” Chuckled Albus, high-fiving his brother.

“Wait, James, this letter says you passed the Apparition test with nearly full marks!” Ginny exclaimed. James rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile at his mother.

“Well... Yeah. I only dropped a couple of marks because on the final jump of the test, I landed with one toe out of the target, but it was such a close margin.”

“Well, we're very proud of you, James. But for the love of Merlin, do you and your brother have to trick us like this? Look, I’m getting grey hairs because of you two, you're driving me to bloody old age!”

“Oh come on, mate. You've got to admit that this is hilarious. This exactly like something that Fred and George would've done back when we were kids.” Chortled Uncle Ron, clapping his nephews on the backs as he laughed. Harry Potter rolled his eyes.

“Come on guys. Let's go through to the kitchen, and I'll get us some brunch fixed up. Draco and Scorpius will be here soon.” Said Harry. James looked over at Albus to see him deep in thought and chewing his bottom lip nervously.

“I’ll help you.” Aunt Hermione put in, gathering her hair into a neat ponytail so it was out of her face.

It was two hours or so after they’d all eaten, and there was still no sign of Scorpius Malfoy or his father at the Potter residence. Albus was growing frantic with worry (though nobody other than James knew why), even Hermione remarked that it was very unlike Draco to be late for anything, much less to do so with no explanation.

Quite without warning, a silvery ferret soared through the wall and the patronus spoke in Draco Malfoy's voice:

 _“James, Scorpius and I sincerely apologise for missing your birthday celebration, but I was urgently called into St. Mungo's and had to leave immediately.”_ The patronus turned to face Harry and Hermione.

 _“I hope you don’t mind, Harry, but I'm going to send Scorpius over by Floo powder with James's present. I figured he could wait at your house, if that's okay, and I apologize for the inconvenience to you and Ginny. Incidentally, you and Hermione should probably get over here, we probably need some Aurors. St. Helga's Orphanage burned down. From what we've heard so far, nearly all of them made it out unscathed, but the two house elves there died, and there's a badly injured child here that they needed my help with.”_ The ferret twisted in the air and disappeared. A tense silence followed.

“Harry, we should probably get down there.” Hermione said pulling out her wand, and transfiguring her Muggle dress into official Ministry robes. Harry sent a Patronus message off to Draco telling him Scorpius would of course be welcome to stay. He then summoned his Auror's robes from upstairs and pulled them over his head.

“Let’s go, Minister.” And they walked briskly to the front step of Grimmauld Place before turning on their heels and disappearing in a twirl of robes.

*****

“Draco. What happened? Has anyone said anything about the fire?”

“Granger. Potter.” Draco nodded in greeting. “Gotta walk and talk, I'm afraid. I need to tend to a patient. I reckon he'd talk to you, give you some of the answers. Please; be gentle with him, though. He's a good kid, and I just had to tell him – well, you'll see.”

Harry and Hermione followed Draco through the children’s wards of the hospital, and stopped in front of a small bed. There was a child propped up against the headboard. He was obviously not very tall, just shy of four feet at most. He had prominent ears, tanned skin, with icy blue eyes and thick wavy brown hair that hung in messy curtains down to his shoulders; there were twisted burns covering the right side of his face, neck, chest, and right shoulder, disappearing beneath the blankets that he was tucked beneath. The burns probably would have continued all the way down his arm and left heavy scarring on his hand, but there wasn't an arm there in the first place. The boy's right arm had been amputated just after the shoulder, leaving nothing but a neat stump. 

The boy was staring straight at the stump, evidently in shock, and seemed not to have noticed the approach of the three adults. Draco cleared his throat, and spoke in a gentle voice that the others had only ever heard him use when talking to Scorpius.

“Hey, champ. How are you feeling? Do you need a pain relief potion?” The kid jumped slightly out of his daze, shaking his head slowly.

“No, Healer Malfoy. You did a good job fixing me up, that's for sure, sir. No pain at all.” The boy’s voice shook slightly as he spoke, showing just how much the accident had affected him. Draco had indeed done a good job on the boy's injuries, though. The skin, whilst marred by the burn scars, was clean and healed up as much as it ever would be. Looking at Draco's medical notes on the boy's case, he had come to the hospital unconscious with third degree burns, heavy bleeding, and the beginnings of sepsis.

Malfoy had risen to minor fame with his creation of a potion (combining essence of dittany, aloe vera, powdered unicorn horn, and essence of murtlap tentacles) that could heal moderate to fairly severe injuries in next to no time. This had resulted in his immediate promotion to Head Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where he specialised in the paediatric department.

“Hello. Do you know who I am?” Hermione smiled kindly as she stepped forwards.

“You’re the Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger-Weasley. Married to Ronald Weasley. You have two kids as well. A girl and a boy.” He turned to face Harry. “And you're Harry Potter, of course. Head of the Auror Office and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Married to Ginevra Weasley. Three kids; two boys, one girl. Eldest came of age today. Congratulations. Middle one got into trouble last year. Nearly destroyed the world with a Time Turner. Not on his own, though; he had help. From a nice blonde boy. I’m guessing that he’s your son, Healer Malfoy, sir.”

All the adults stared stupefied at the boy, completely lost for words that he could know so much about their private lives. But the boy wasn't done yet.

“Now you're wondering how I could know as much as I do about your lives. I'm a born Legilimens. Normally, I can control it and stop myself from reading people’s minds automatically, but when I’m super tired or stressed out, it becomes more difficult to control what I see.”

“Well... That explains it, then. Would it be alright, though, if you tried not to read our minds for now? We just have some questions for you, if you think you'd be up to it.” Harry sat on the foot of his bed. The boy nodded slowly.

“First of all, what's your name? And how old are you?” Harry asked, giving an encouraging smile.

“I'm fourteen years old, sir. But I never got a name, sir. My mother died before she could name me, and the orphanage never bothered naming me. I was called 'Runt' by the other children though, if that helps. Because I am what you might call 'vertically challenged'. Goblin father, witch mother, you see. Explains my ears as well.” A huff of laughter escaped him, as he pointed at his large (and slightly pointed) ears.

“You never even got a name?” Draco cut in indignantly.

“No, sir. Never needed one, because nobody at the orphanage spoke to me if they could help it. The two house elves looked after me, mostly. The children didn't want to be seen being friendly with the half-breed, after all.” He snorted derisively.

“Okay, setting aside that disturbing information of abuse, if you're fourteen years old, why were you never sent to Hogwarts?” Hermione said.

“I always wanted to go, but if I didn't have a name and there was no official record of me being born, how could a Hogwarts letter be addressed to me? So everyone else got their Hogwarts letters except for me. The other kids figured I was either a squib or that my goblin blood meant that I didn't count as a wizard enough to be able to go to Hogwarts.”

All three of the adults made protesting noises of anger and disgust.

“It wasn't all bad, though. The two house elves that the orphanage had, they liked me, so they taught me magic instead. They taught me how to brew all these cool potions, and these awesome spells and charms and stuff. They helped me make a little hidden bedroom in the library (because nobody else liked the library), so I got to read all these books that there were.”

“But they didn't let you go to school?!” Hermione cried, outraged.

“No, Ma’am. I did alright though, I think. I even learned this cool thing last year where you turn into an animal whenever you want!”

“You’re an Animagus?”

“Yeah!”

“And you learned this when you were only thirteen? That's incredible. Unheard of, even.”

“Really?” The child looked confused. “It wasn't that hard, really. I had to brew this potion on the full moon with mandrake leaves, one of my hairs, and the hair of a transformed werewolf, and finely ground moonstone. So, okay, maybe it wasn’t the easiest potion in the world to brew. And then I had to wait until the next full moon and drink that potion with the moonlight shining directly on me, and say an incantation, and hey presto, it was done.”

Stunned silence followed this pronouncement.

“But-but the Animorphus potion is extraordinarily intricate! Such a convoluted recipe, and such precise instructions that have to be followed to the letter - it's not even on the NEWT syllabus! Part of the reason that Animagi are so rare is that nearly all adult wizards aren't able to make the potion; and you managed it at thirteen years old!” Draco cried in awe. “Harry, your father and his friends only managed to do it in fifth year, which in itself is incredible, but that was three students combining their efforts and skills! And this kid achieved it _by himself_ nearly two years their junior!”

“It is indeed astonishing. But how on Earth did you learn any magic, or succeed in casting the spell for the Animagus transformation, without the use of a wand?” Harry asked the boy.

“Well, when all the other kids came back to the orphanage for the holidays, or at least for the summer holidays, I used to hoard spare potions ingredients and old cauldrons and things. I took them a little at a time so nobody would notice that they were gone, and they weren't going to be used anyway. They were just scraps, trashed and tossed, so it's not really stealing the way I see it. And if I ever needed to use a wand, like for the Animagus transformation, or to practice spells, I used to wait until everyone was asleep and then borrow a wand from one of the other children without them knowing. I just had to make sure I didn't wake them up, and that I put it back exactly where I found it. Obviously, the borrowed wands never worked as well as if it had been my own wand, but I made do.”  
“Incredible... Young man, do you reckon you'd be able to provide us with a demonstration? I'm assuming that you're an unregistered Animagus, of course. Oh, don't worry!” Said Hermione, seeing the stricken look on the boy’s face. “You won't be punished, I promise. Though you do understand that you will now have to legally register yourself as an Animagus, as both a safety and a security precaution. I assure you that this is just three very impressed people asking out of pure curiosity. You're under no obligation to show us now if you really don't want to.”

“No, Minister, I'm sorry, I mean it's fine. It's just that it's probably going to look considerably different than it did before because of - y'know...” He gestured to the stump of his shoulder and the burns all over the right side of his body with his remaining hand.

Draco crouched next to the boy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I know that this is all very scary and new and different. It's going to take time and effort to adjust and adapt to not having the use of both arms. It's going to be a long journey, and not an easy one either, but you're doing _so well_ , already. You've just got to breathe, and carry on being brave, and you'll emerge stronger than you ever were before, okay? Can you do that for me? Be brave, kid.”

The fourteen year-old sniffed and nodded, steel in his eyes. He closed his eyes, let out a slow breath, and transformed smoothly into his Animagus form.

He was a kitten. A very fluffy one at that, and very small; maybe the smallest kitten Draco had ever seen in his life, he was tiny. Draco thought he’d heard the name of the breed in passing from Scorpius, who was always pestering him to let him have a cat. The kid was a Norwegian Forest cat, or a kitten version at the very least.

All in all, Draco supposed it made sense. Small and playful kid, small and playful animal. Smart kid, smart animal. The kid had disproportionately large ears (for lack of a better term), so the animal also had prominent ears. It almost made Draco want to laugh at the obviousness of the similarities. Almost. For the front right leg of the kitten was also obviously missing, and though the kitten’s fur was thick, soft, and extremely fluffy, the beautiful blue-grey and black striped colour of his fur was interrupted by white patches where the burns on his human body would be: on the right side of his face, neck, chest, and belly. His eyes remained exactly the same shade of cool icy blue that they were in human form.

The small kitten was taking in the changes to its transformed appearance, looking timidly up at the adults crowded around his bed and meowing nervously. He transformed back into his human (well, half-human, half-goblin) form.

“Remarkable.” Said Hermione in a hushed voice.

There was an awkward silence in which nobody really knew what to say. Harry seemed to wrestle with himself internally before he spoke awkwardly.

“Do you reckon you’d be able to give us any information about the fire? Anything at all that might help us to ascertain what happened?” The boy hesitated, but then nodded, looking down at his lap as though he was about to cry.

“There was this boy, he’s called Alistair O’Flannagan. Well, we never really got along. He thought that I didn’t belong at a _wizarding_ orphanage because I’m half-goblin, but rather a zoo. He didn’t really view me as a human. He thought that I was dangerous. But _he_ was getting adopted, so _he_ got to leave and go to Hogwarts, so he was packing up all his stuff to move in with his new family, and I guess he wanted to play one last trick on me.” The adults watched in complete and suffocating silence as the boy continued his tale, and they watched as tears started falling steadily down his cheeks.

“I was in the library, brewing some Pepper-up Potion with the house elves, because one of them, Wheezy, had a bit of a fever. And I was just adding the powdered shell of a fire crab, and Alistair threw a Filibuster's firework in my cauldron. And obviously the sparks from the firework ignited the fire crab shell. It didn’t spread very fast at first. But then the fire got into the staff room across the hall, and the head matron of the orphanage kept all her old hunting trophies in there, includi-including an erumpant horn.” Hermione gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

“There was this huge explosion and everything was on fire and I just remember the pain, it hurt so much, and I can hear Wheezy and Betsy – I can still hear their screams. The only two beings on this planet that cared at all about me, dead. And Alistair, the boy who started the fire, even if it was unintentional – completely unharmed. What sort of sick twist of fate is that? Where the boy who's hated me my whole life gets off scot-free, but the two house elves that cared for me and nurtured me and raised me since I was a baby, they die and I'm the _only_ one that will care or remember them. Why? Because they were 'just house elves', so that automatically means that their lives were somehow less important than a human life would have been. They deserved better than that. It's not fair.” With that, the boy dissolved into sobs, wracked with grief, and anger.

Draco pulled him into a comforting hug, professionalism be damned. This child had no-one, and he needed someone.

“You’re right. It's not fair. Life was, is, and always will be cruel to those who least deserve it.”

“Don’t worry, The Accidental Magic Reversal Department is already working on obliviating any Muggle witnesses and rebuilding the orphanage. It should be just a day or two before everything is rebuilt.”

“With all due respect, Minister, it doesn't make any difference to me. The only two beings that liked me are dead, the others hated me anyway. And it's not like I'd be welcome there now; I'll get the blame for the fire, and bear in mind these are orphans who had very little to begin with anyway, and now what little that any of them may have had could all be gone, burned to cinders. I have nowhere to go.”

“You’ve been through a terrible ordeal tonight. We're going to leave you to get some rest, but we'll be back tomorrow. Okay?” Draco said.  
The boy nodded, blinking away more tears and staring blankly into his lap.

Harry, Hermione, and Draco Floo'd back to Grimmauld Place, where Ginny and Ron were waiting for them.

“What’s the word?” Ginny hugged her husband in greeting.

“Two house-elves dead, one child severely injured. Everything should turn out alright. Where are the kids?”

“Playing board games upstairs. By the way, Draco, thank you so much for the dress robes you bought James. They're wonderful, he can't wait to wear them!” Draco turned round from where he had been conversing with Hermione in hushed whispers.

“He’s very welcome. Would you be able to get Scorpius for me? We have a lot to discuss at home.”

“Yes, of course. Just a moment.” Ginny walked out the room, shooting a confused look at her husband, who just shrugged.

A minute later, Scorpius was walking into the living room, followed by Albus and James. He walked over to his father and gave him a quick hug.

“Everything alright, father?”

“Yes, Scorpius. I just need to talk to you about something important that could affect us both greatly. Probably best discussed back at the Manor with a cup of tea. Harry, Ginny, thank you very much for your hospitality and for looking after Scorpius. I expect we'll see you tomorrow.”

“You're welcome. Here, take the Floo network home.” Ginny said, passing them a small box of powder off of the mantelpiece.

“Thank you.” Draco said, taking a pinch of Floo powder, Scorpius doing the same afterwards.

“Draco, I'll get those papers you wanted owled to you immediately. And I'll be there tomorrow as a witness, if you would like.”

“I’d be very grateful if you would be there. You too, Harry.”

“What for?” Scorpius, James, Albus, and Harry said at there same time.

“I'll tell you later.” Draco and Hermione replied in unison.

“Happy Birthday, James.” Draco called.

With that, Draco and Scorpius Malfoy stepped into the fire place, threw down the powder and disappeared in a flash of green flames.

*****

Upon arriving back home at Malfoy Manor, Draco summoned two of the house elves, Topsy and Turvy: one to put away his travelling cloak and invite his mother downstairs, the other to prepare afternoon tea to be served in the cosy drawing room. Topsy apparated back after a few moments.

“Mistress Narcissa is telling Topsy that she would love to join Masters for tea. But Mistress Narcissa was already being in the drawing room, sir, reading a book by the fire. The room is being nice and warm, Master Draco, sir.” Topsy beamed at Draco.

“Thank you very much, Topsy. We're going up there now.” Draco smiled back.

The relationships between the Malfoy family and their house elves had improved drastically after the Second Wizarding War. All three members of the Malfoy family had gone on trial when the dust had settled. Lucius had been imprisoned in Azkaban, where he would be spending the rest of his life. Narcissa and Draco, however, had been spared from any punishment after the war by Harry Potter, who had vehemently testified at both of their trials.

He told the Wizengamot of how Draco had lied to everyone at Malfoy Manor, saying that he didn't recognise Harry, consequently saving not only Harry's life but the lives of Hermione, Ron, Dean, Luna, Ollivander, and Griphook. He explained that Narcissa had also saved his life on the night of the Battle of Hogwarts in the Forbidden Forest, lying to Voldemort himself, telling him that Harry was dead.

Without the emotional abuse and prejudices of Lucius Malfoy poisoning their lives, the remaining two Malfoys thrived, turning the Manor into a beautiful, warm home, ridding it of any and all evidence and memories of the evil that had tainted its walls for so many years. Gone were all the dark magic objects that had previously filled the house, and the black painted walls had been replaced with airy, light colours that completely changed the atmosphere of the house.

It had taken a great deal of time for all the house elves to relax and let their guard down around their masters, but now, the house elves of Malfoy Manor were treated with tolerance, kindness, and respect. All the house elves were now vehemently forbidden from ever punishing themselves for being unable to follow an order or making a mistake, instead being treated with patience. They were much happier and more willing to serve than they had been previously, and it showed. Malfoy Manor was now a safe haven, with all its inhabitants functioning smoothly and happily side by side.

Draco and Scorpius arrived at the drawing room and found Narcissa Malfoy reading peacefully by the fire, just as Topsy had said. On the other side of the room, Turvy was setting three places for afternoon tea at a large table by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Tea is ready.” Turvy called.

Narcissa neatly marked her page and rose gracefully, smoothing out the folds of her robes before making her way to the table and seating herself at the chair Turvy indicated.

Draco and Scorpius were seated too, and then Turvy curtseyed and made to leave the room.

“Thank you, Turvy. This looks quite lovely. You and Topsy may both take the rest of the day off for yourselves.” Narcissa smiled.

“Thanking you very much, Miss.” Turvy curtseyed again and disappeared with a loud pop.

Light conversation sparked up as everyone poured themselves tea and helped themselves to one of the selection of little cakes that the house elves had provided. Narcissa told her grandson about the book she had been reading, and Scorpius told them of his plans for the summer and the subjects that he was taking for his OWLs which would take place that school year, as Scorpius, Albus, and Rose Granger-Weasley would be going into their fifth year at Hogwarts after the summer holidays.

“You've been awfully quiet, Draco. Is anything the matter?” Narcissa looked over her teacup at her son.

“Nothing’s wrong, mother. I'm fine.”

“Dad, you've barely said two words since we sat down.”

Draco was spared from having to reply by the pecking of a beak at the window. It was Archimedes, the Granger-Weasley family’s tawny owl.

“Thank you, Archimedes.” Draco walked over to the window and offered the bird an owl treat, which was gratefully received after handing over the letter. The owl took off out the window in a flap of feathers and Draco resumed his seat at the table. He sighed at his mother and son, and handed the letter and the enclosed forms over for their perusal.

Draco waited for their reactions. Narcissa looked over the top of her glasses in bewilderment at her son, whilst Scorpius took the forms and furrowed his brow before his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates in surprise.

*****

It was the next morning and after a quick breakfast, the Malfoy family met Harry and Hermione back at St. Mungo's. Pleasantries were exchanged, before they all headed upstairs to the children's ward.

The small boy was sat up in bed, just as he had been the day before, dressed in striped pyjamas, but this time, he was struggling awkwardly to eat the breakfast that the hospital had provided. He looked up in surprise when he saw everyone.

“Er, hello?”

“Good morning, how are you feeling?” Draco said.

“Better today, still not amazing, but I think I’m starting to come to terms with everything a bit.”

“That’s good. Um, I'd like to introduce you to my mother, Narcissa Malfoy, and my son, Scorpius.”

“Pleased to meet you. I would shake your hands, but...” He showed the two newcomers the stump of his shoulder. The boy still looked very confused as to why so many people were there.

“Are you really an Animagus?” Scorpius blurted out. Draco rolled his eyes fondly at his son.

The boy gave no verbal reply, instead transforming into his animal form and back again. Scorpius looked at him in speechless wonderment, even Narcissa looked mightily impressed.

“Dad told us you're a Legilimens, too. That you were born with it.” Scorpius continued.

“Yeah, I am, though I make a point of not invading people's privacy if I can help it. People's minds should be their own.”

“That's so cool!” Scorpius exclaimed. “What am I thinking now?”

“You’re excited because it's your birthday soon, and you found out that you got a really good present. Our birthdays are pretty close together as it goes, mine’s just a few days after yours.”

“Awesome! And yeah, that's right! Did you see what the present was?”

“No. But you either want it to be, or reckon it is, a kitten. Not sure it’s my business, though.”

“Well, actually,” Draco cut in, stepping forward, “It might be your business.”

“How do you mean, Healer Malfoy, sir?”

From inside the pocket of his robes, Draco pulled out the forms that Hermione had sent him the night before. He handed them to the boy, who took them curiously.

“What’s this?” He asked, unfolding them awkwardly with his left hand.

“They’re um - they're adoption papers. My mother, son, and myself would like you to come and live with us. I'd be so honoured if you would let me adopt you as a son.”

The boy's mouth fell open in shock. He seemed momentarily incapable of forming words, only odd splutters. Draco sat down on the end of the bed and looked right into the boy's eyes.

“You’d have a home, and-and a family. A father, a grandmother, and an older brother. And a name, you’d have a name and you can help us decide what you want it to be. We have a beautiful home, Malfoy Manor. It's got beautiful grounds, and you'd have a bedroom that's all yours. And there's also a fantastic library, shelves and shelves of books. Everything that you could ever wish to read. And you'd be able to go to Hogwarts and learn, and then you can do whatever you want in life.”

Still the boy seemed unable to speak. Tears were glistening in his eyes as he looked around at all the others, who were all beaming at him.

“I realise that this is a lot to take in. Please understand that nobody is going to force you into this decision, but we really would love for you to become part of our family. And I promise you, that we will love you and care for you just like a family should. I promise you, if you say yes, you'll want for nothing for the rest of your life.”

Everyone was holding back happy tears. Hermione and Harry had stepped away slightly, to give the Malfoys a bit of space.

The boy wiped his eyes on the back of his pyjama sleeve, and took in a gasping shaky breath.

“I-is this – I mean, is th-this real? You want to adopt me?”

“Yes. This is very real. I want you to be part of our family. I want you to be my son.” Draco laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes, willing him to hear the truth in his words.

The boy surged forward and wrapped his arm around Draco’s neck, sobbing into a tight embrace. Draco brought his arms around and held the boy tightly to him.

“Is that a yes?” Draco said quietly, in a hopeful but also vulnerable voice that sounded very alien to Harry and Hermione.

The boy pulled away and nodded, wiping his eyes again. There were cheers and clapping as the boy beamed at everyone.

“So what happens now? What do we need to do?”

“Well, there's adoption forms here that need filling out, then we need to contact the Ministry of Magic and apply for a birth certificate for you, and add your name to the Malfoy vault at Gringott's, once we've come up with a name for you, that is. And we need to take you shopping and get you some belongings. Honestly, there's a lot of stuff to do, and the paperwork might take a while to get processed, but you can come and live with us right away.”

“Actually, Draco, having the Minister for Magic as a friend can be very useful in such circumstances. You fill out those forms now, Harry and I can sign as witnesses, and I'll take them straight to the Ministry with me when I leave here.” Hermione stepped forward. “You can let me know as soon as you decide on a name, and I can make sure that the paperwork is processed at record speed. We can have this done and dusted by the end of the day.”

“Hermione, are you serious? That's amazing! You're amazing! Thank you, thank you!” Draco hugged Hermione.

“Just promise me one thing. Get him registered as an Animagus as soon as possible.”

“Deal.”

The adoption forms were filled in within half an hour, and Hermione slipped them into the robes of her pockets and took her leave, congratulating the Malfoys one last time. Harry, too, left, giving the Malfoy family some time alone.

“How about we check you out of here and go home?” Draco suggested.

“Home.” The boy said, a dreamy smile drifting onto his scarred face. “I have a home now.”

“Yeah, you do! And I have a little brother! Best birthday present EVER!” Scorpius yelled. They all laughed.

“Wait, I was the kitten, wasn’t I?” The boy asked. Scorpius nodded sheepishly and the boy burst into laughter again.

A little while later, the boy was checked out of the hospital, and they walked out onto the street before Apparating back to Malfoy Manor, their home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Malfoys return home with their new addition, but how will he settle into Malfoy Manor?

“Oh my God! This place is incredible!”

“I'm very glad you like it, son.” Draco’s smiled and ruffled his new son's hair.

“Scorpius, why don't you help your brother pick out a bedroom? Then I think we should all reconvene in the library for a celebratory drink and to pick out a name. I refuse to allow my grandson go on without a name and an identity.”

“An excellent idea, mother.”

Scorpius grabbed his brother by the hand and dragged him away, laughing.

Narcissa turned towards her son and smiled.

“Draco, my son, I am so proud of you.”

“Thank you, mother. I just wish that Astoria could have been here.” Draco smiled sadly.

“Me too, but I know that she would be proud of you too, and that she watches over you everyday. She would be so proud of you, looking after Scorpius like you do. And now you have the chance to do that again, for your new son. And I know that you're going to do an amazing job.” Narcissa hugged her son, and they walked up to the library together, eager to get a head start on name-searching before the boys arrived.

*****

The two boys ran into the library laughing, to find their father and grandmother already starting to look at names.

“Hello, boys. Did you pick out a bedroom?”

“Yeah! He's going to be in the bedroom right across from mine!” Scorpius beamed at his father. “It's got a balcony, with floor-to-ceiling window doors and a really nice view of the gardens. And it's a nice big room as well, spacious, so he can really do what he wants with it. And the best part is there's a huge empty bookcase on one of the walls just waiting to be filled with books!”

“Sounds like you made a good choice, boys. Now, let's get started.”

Draco addressed his younger son.

“Now, it's tradition for members of the Black family, which is my maternal side, to be named after stars and constellations. Do you think maybe you'd like to use that as a starting point?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically. They listed all the stars and constellations that they could think that could be used for boys' names on a roll of parchment and began to go through them. But for some reason, none of them seemed to fit well enough. After completely exhausting the list that they had written, they just started pulling astronomy books off of the library shelves at random, and calling out random suggestions of names as they came to them.

“What about Regulus?” The boy suggested half-heartedly.

“Nope. One of Grandmother's cousins, bit of a nasty guy, Death Eater, y'know.” Scorpius added the name to a list that they had started a little while ago: _Suggested and Rejected Names_.

“Ugh, forget it. We're never going to be able to find a name for me!” The boy flopped down in a chair with a huff.

“Don't despair, my child. We'll find the perfect name, I'm sure of it.” Narcissa placed a consoling hand on her grandson's shoulder.

“I think we all agree that it should be a name that no Malfoy or Black has had yet. That way, you're starting your own identity, your own legacy, and not automatically being associated with someone who might have had a murky past which, in our family, is more than a fair assumption.” Scorpius said diplomatically.

“I have an idea.” Draco said. “Topsy! Turvy!”

Two loud pops announced the arrival of the two house elves.

“Topsy, Turvy, I would like you to meet my newly adopted son.” He indicated the boy, who stood up and walked over.

“We is so pleased to be meeting you, young Master! And we is wishing to give our most sincerest congratulations to Master Draco for this joyous occasion of a new addition to the family.”

“Thank you, Turvy.”

“What is being the young Master's name, sir?”

“Well, Topsy, that is the very dilemma that we are currently facing. And I think that you two may be able to be of assistance.”

Topsy and Turvy cocked their heads in confusion, their huge bat-like ears flapping slightly.

“You two are sisters, with ancestors going back generations that have served the Black family, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And as you know, Members of the Black family are often named for stars and constellations. We were wondering if you had any memory of stars of constellations whose names have not yet been taken.”

“Of course, sir! Topsy and Turvy was having to be learning the names of all the previous Masters and Mistresses that our family has served, sir, when we were young. Our mother was being very insistent on this point, sir.”

“If Master Draco would be amenable, we could take a star map back to our bedrooms and be having a thorough look, sir. And we shall list them alphabetically!” Topsy held her nose high with pride at her own suggestion.

“That would be incredibly helpful. Thank you.” Draco said, fishing a star map out from beneath the pile of books and papers that hid almost the entire table from view. The two elves scurried from the room, already beginning to quietly recite the names that they could remember off the tops of their heads. Draco turned to the three others in the room, speaking to his second son.

“Right, while they're gone, this gives us an opportunity to answer any questions that you might want to ask. Anything at all.”

The boy chewed his lip in thought. After a few moments, he spoke.

“I don't really have, well, anything. No clothes, no belongings, no nothing. I guess, I don't know, I guess I'm just wondering how we're going to pay for everything. I don't want to be a burden.” He mumbled the question so much that the others could barely hear it. Draco walked over and crouched in front of his son, tilting his chin up so that he was looking into Draco's eyes.

“Hey, we'll be having none of that. You are _not_ a burden. You're family now, okay? Those adoption papers mean that you're as much a Malfoy as any of the rest of us in this room right now, do you hear me? And you don't need to worry about money. You can probably tell by the Manor House that we're fairly comfortable,” Draco shot a quick glare at his elder son when he heard a snort of laughter and something that sounded like _'that's putting it mildly'_. “and tomorrow morning, we're bloody well taking you shopping. And we're going to buy you everything that you need. And maybe buy a couple of things just to spoil you.” Draco said with a wink. “I told you I'd take care of you, and I will damn well do it. Okay?”

The boy nodded with a little giggle.

“Okay, next question.”

“Yes?”

“What should I call you? I can't keep calling you ‘Healer Malfoy’, can I?”

“Well, I'm not a parent that would really welcome their child to call them by their first name, but you may use any form of paternal reference that you wish. Scorpius usually favours 'Dad' or 'Father'.”

The boy hugged Draco.

“Thank you, Papa. For everything.”

“You, young man, are most certainly welcome.” The boy now turned to Narcissa.

“And –”

“I prefer to be called 'Grandma' or 'Grandmother'.” Narcissa said, but she then bent down to whisper in her grandson's ear. “But you can call me 'Nana' if it's just us two. Our little secret. Scorpius still calls me 'Gam-gam' when we're alone.” The boy giggled and smirked at his brother as Narcissa pulled away, but two loud pops signalled the return of Topsy and Turvy.

“We is finished, Master Draco! And we has got the list!” Topsy said, handing the list to Draco who laid it on the table while Turvy put the map back in its proper place in one of the cabinets. The four of them leaned over the list, which was indeed alphabetised, as the two elves began tidying up the enormous pile of papers, books, and manuscripts that had been consulted for names and putting everything back where it had come from. They scanned the list quickly, but they all stopped when Scorpius pointed one of them out.

_'Phoenix'_

“I don't know, Scorpius,” Draco said, looking unsure as his eyes moved from the name written on the parchment, to Scorpius, to his younger son, and back again. “Might it not be a little bit on the nose? Maybe a little cruelly ironic?”

“It’s perfect.” The boy said quietly, not taking his eyes off of the parchment on the table.

“I agree. It's a perfect description.” Scorpius reasoned. “Think about it; the constellation 'Phoenix' is a small constellation and no offence, but you’re maybe four feet tall, and that's pushing it.” He rolled his eyes as his father and brother both shot him an exasperated look. “Seriously though, the phoenix is a bird that burns to ashes, and rises up stronger and even more beautiful than before, and isn't that kind of beautiful? Like, the perfect metaphor.”

The boy ripped a small piece of blank parchment from the bottom of the list and grabbed the quill nearest to him, dipping it in a pot of ink before writing on it and handing it to Draco.

_'Phoenix Narcissus Malfoy'_

Draco took the quill off of his son and amended the proposed name slightly, before showing it to the boy for judgement.

_‘Phoenix Narcissus Forrest Malfoy’_

A lump formed in Draco's throat as the boy attacked Draco with a hug nodding emphatically, and he showed the piece of parchment to Narcissa and Scorpius, before hugging his son tightly and saying,

“You’re right. It's perfect. Phoenix Narcissus Forrest Malfoy, welcome to the family.”

There was lots of laughing, and cheering, and clapping, and emotional hugging, before Draco composed himself enough to address the house elves who were just putting the last few books in their proper places on the shelves.

“Topsy, Turvy. We owe you a debt of gratitude for this. Thank you.”

“You is most welcome, Master Draco, sir.” Topsy said.

“And if we may say so, sir,” added Turvy, “we is being very happy for the four of you, and we look forward to having young Master Phoenix here at Malfoy Manor.”

“Would you please gather all the other house elves and invite them to join us in the living room. And bring a bottle of our finest champagne. We have an announcement to make.”

“Very good, Master Draco, sir.” Turvy curtseyed, and the two elves disappeared after giving Phoenix a quick smile.

Ten minutes later saw the four Malfoys standing in the living room before the twenty or so house elves that worked there, each with a glass of expensive champagne in their hand. Draco cleared his throat.

“For those of you that do not yet know, today the Malfoy family has had the happy occasion of welcoming a new member to the family. I have adopted this young man, and he is to be called Phoenix Narcissus Forrest Malfoy.” Draco put one arm around Phoenix before continuing. “I trust that you will all welcome him with open arms and treat him with as much respect and deference as any of the rest of us. We, as a family, hope that you will continue to do an amazing job as you have thus far, and join us in celebration. To my two beautiful sons, Scorpius and Phoenix.”

The house elves clapped and cheered as the Malfoys raised their glasses and drank. One of the house elves stepped forward. He was tiny, even for an elf, with huge shining brown eyes. He wore a black pillowcase, clean and pressed to perfection, with a gold letter 'M' on the chest, as was the uniform for the house elves at Malfoy Manor. He spoke in a squeaky little voice as he held out a small wrapped package to Phoenix, who placed his champagne glass down on a nearby table so he could take it.

“My name is Binkley, Master Phoenix. And me and the rest of the elves here are wishing to welcome young Master to his new home. We is having a welcoming gift for Master Phoenix.”

Phoenix unwrapped the brown paper, which admittedly was quite an awkward task with only one hand, to reveal a brass door plaque which declared:

_'Phoenix's Room'_

The writing was a fancy cursive font stamped slightly off to the left, and on the right there was a small picture of a phoenix bird with brilliant plumage.

“It is for the young Master's bedroom. We hopes that Master Phoenix is liking it.”

“Thank you, Binkley. It's beautiful.” Phoenix and Binkley beamed at each other. Binkley reached out his long-fingered hand for the plaque.

“If young Master would like, Binkley can arrange for the plaque to be fitted right now.”

“Great idea, Binkley. My brother will be taking the room right across from mine. The one with the biggest bookcase.” Scorpius stepped forward and smiled down at the house elf.

“Very good choice, sir.” Binkley passed the plaque to another elf, who disappeared with a pop to fix it to the door.

“Binkley would like to ask Master Draco a question, sir. If he may.” Binkley tugged gently on the sleeve of Draco's robe as the other elves began disappearing in order to make a celebratory dinner.

“Of course, Binkley.”

“Who is being Master Phoenix's personal elf? Master Draco is having Topsy and Turvy, Mistress Narcissa has Wriggly, and young Master Scorpius has Clipper, sir. But if Master Phoenix does not yet have his own personal house elf, Binkley is wanting to volunteer himself, sir, and would be most honoured if he was being chosen, sir!”

“Personal house elf?” Phoenix whispered to Scorpius.

“Yeah, basically like a personal assistant, or a butler, or a lady in waiting. They still serve the house as a general, but their priority is serving one member of the family.” Scorpius whispered back.

“Well, son. The choice is yours.” Draco said, turning to Phoenix. The elf turned hopeful eyes to the youngest Malfoy.

“Yes, of course. I'd be happy to have him.” Said Phoenix.

“Oh thank you, thank you, young Master. Binkley will not be disappointing you, sir!” Binkley hugged Phoenix around the middle.

“I do have a favour for you, Binkley.” Draco said.

“Yes, Master Draco. Anything.”

“Could you please inform the Minister for Magic that a name has been chosen for my son, and tell her that the name is to be Phoenix Narcissus Forrest Malfoy. Do you need me to write it down for you?”

Binkley shook his head emphatically, his large ears flapping wildly.

“No sir, Binkley is remembering the name just fine, sir. He will be back very soon, sir.”

“Very good. On your way back, however, would you please be able to stop by Diagon Alley and pick up some basic toiletries for Phoenix? Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, the usual. You can charge it to the Malfoy account at Gringott's.”

“Yes sir.” And Binkley disapparated with a small pop.

“Thanks Dad.” Phoenix smiled at Draco.

“No worries. I'll get one of the house elves to lay out some of Scorpius’s old clothes in your bedroom for you. Pick out what you want to keep, and we can buy whatever else you might need tomorrow. Now, let's go eat.”

*****

Later that evening, Phoenix was sitting on his new four-poster bed which had been freshly made up with soft pillows and warm blankets. He was looking through some of the old clothes that had been neatly folded at the end of his bed when there was a knock at the door. It was Scorpius.

“Hey,” he said softly, leaning against the doorframe, “I just wanted to see how you were settling in, I know that all of this must be pretty overwhelming for you.”

“Yeah, come in.” Phoenix ran a hand through his long hair. “I mean, it's a lot to happen in one day; this morning I was an orphan in a hospital bed hours after losing an arm, with no clue what was going to happen to me, and in the space of a few hours, I've got a home, a father, a grandmother, a-a brother, and a name.” He have his brother a weak smile. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I get it. But you are happy, right? Like, you're happy that Dad adopted you?”

“What? Yes! Of course! It's like the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's like a dream come true or something. And, you know,” He looked into his lap, his voice going all quiet and shy, “I always wanted a brother. Y'know, someone that had my back, and I'd have their back too, and we were just there for each other, and we'd have fun and do stupid stuff like run through the garden and play Wizard chess, and gobstones and all that.”

“Yeah? Me too.” Said Scorpius, sitting shoulder to shoulder with his brother on the bed. “Fair warning, though. I've never had a brother before, so I'm probably going to be protective as hell.” They both laughed.

They continued chatting lightly, getting to know each other better. Scorpius told Phoenix what Hogwarts was like, and Phoenix told Scorpius about some of the interesting things he had learned in the library at the orphanage. They were just talking about the composition of the Animorphus potion, when Draco knocked on the door.

“Hello, boys. I've got to write a letter to someone and then I'm probably going to go to bed. I wouldn't stay up too long if I were you, it's pretty late, and we've got a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Okay, Papa.”

Draco smiled.

“I thought you two might want to see this.” He held out a few folded up pieces of parchment. “The Minister for Magic just sent these to me.”

They were copies of the adoption papers and new birth certificate.

“It’s official. You're a Malfoy now, Phoenix.” Phoenix beamed at his father and brother as he looked up from the papers, too happy and overwhelmed to put it into words.

“Goodnight, boys.” And Draco walked out of the room, smiling to himself.

Back in Phoenix's bedroom, the two boys were still looking at the forms, when an idea struck Scorpius.

“Hold on, I want to try something.” He pulled out his wand and waved it through the air.

“Expecto patronum.” A silvery owl burst from the end of Scorpius's wand and flew slowly around the room before disappearing. Both boys stared at each other.

“I've never been able to do that before.” Scorpius whispered.

“What were you thinking about?”

“How happy I am, how awesome today's been. I've got a brother now.”

The boys hugged tightly, neither of them eager to let go.

“Well,” Scorpius pulled back and got off the bed, wiping his eyes gently on the cuff of his jumper. “I should probably get to bed. It is pretty late after all.”

“Yeah.” Phoenix walked over to the door and gave Scorpius one last hug. “Goodnight, Scorpius.”

“Goodnight, Fen.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco takes Scorpius and Phoenix shopping, because Malfoy men deserve only the best. But a trip to the menagerie in Diagon Alley reveals another piece of information about Phoenix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the pitiful chapter summaries, I'm hoping that I'll get better at them!

When Phoenix Malfoy woke up the next morning, he didn't immediately register where he was. He’d been having such a good dream; he dreamed that he'd been adopted by Draco Malfoy, that he had a home and a brother. But suddenly, as he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his hand, he heard a loud pop next to his bed.

“Good morning, Master Phoenix!” Said the squeaky voice of Binkley the house elf. Phoenix sat bolt upright, looking around him. He was in a comfortable bed, in a large bedroom, he was at Malfoy Manor! It hadn't been a dream! It was all real!

He let out a great 'whoop' of elation and excitement and started jumping up and down on the bed, laughing jubilantly while Binkley just watched on in amusement and slight alarm.

“Is Master Phoenix alright, sir?”

“Yes, Binkley! I'm so happy! It wasn't a dream! It's all real! I have a family!”

“Binkley is being very happy that you are happy, sir.”

“Come on, Binkley. Come join me! It's fun!” Phoenix called, still jumping up and down on the bed. Binkley hesitated, but gave in and jumped up, shrieking in excitement as both of them just let loose and expelled all of their excess energy. They flopped onto the bed after a while, laughing together.

“That was fun, Master Phoenix!”

“I like you, Binkley.” Phoenix said good-naturedly.

“Thank you, sir! Binkley is thinking that he will be most pleased to be serving a Master so kind and fun.”

“I’m glad.”

Binkley hopped off the bed and picked up a phial of potion.

“Master Draco is telling Binkley that Master Phoenix lost lots and lots of blood in the accident where he is losing his arm, sir. Binkley doesn't like to pry, but he confesses he is very curious about what happened, for he can see much scarring across Master's face and neck, and Master's right arm has been amputated.”

Phoenix stiffened slightly at the question, but relaxed after a minute or so and briefly explained what had happened at the orphanage.  
“Binkley is already feeling that he does not like this boy Alistair O'Flannagan at all, sir. But Master Draco is telling Binkley to give this potion to Master Phoenix when he wakes up. It is a Blood-Replenishing Potion, sir. Master Draco says that Phoenix should be taking them everyday for the next week.”

“Very well. Thank you, Binkley.” He downed the potion, grimacing slightly at the taste and then getting up to get showered and dressed. The shower was admittedly a bit of a struggle (though Phoenix was sure that he would never mention that to anyone), and when he was done in the bathroom, he walked back into his bedroom to find Binkley waiting dutifully by the dresser, after having made the bed and opened the curtains so that sunlight shone through the windows.

“Begging your pardon, sir. Binkley was wondering whether Master needed any more help getting dressed.”

Phoenix opened his mouth defensively to say that he was perfectly capable of dressing himself, thank you very much, but Binkley beat him to the punch.

“Oh no, sir! Binkley is not meaning to offend Master Phoenix! Binkley is just thinking that it must be difficult for young Master to adapt and do certain things with only one arm, and Binkley wishes to help make things easier, sir, until Master Phoenix develops a routine whereby he can do it all by himself. Binkley apologises if Master thought that Binkley was slighting his capabilities, sir.”

“No, Binkley, it's fine. I'm just not used to needing help for things like this. I guess I still haven't got used to the fact that I don't have two arms anymore. Thank you, I would appreciate your help.”

“Binkley has some suggestions of what Master Phoenix could wear today if Master is interested?”

“Okay.”

“Binkley is thinking that colours like blue, some shades of green, black, grey, and purple would go very well with Master's tanned complexion, and maybe dark reds and burgundies as well. So, Binkley is thinking that this shirt with this t-shirt underneath and Binkley is thinking that these jeans should fit Master well enough if Master rolls the legs up.” He held up the items and looked up at Phoenix, awaiting his verdict.

“That sounds good enough for me. But what about underwear?”

“Binkley took the liberty of picking some up yesterday at Diagon Alley while he was getting toiletries. Master Phoenix now has plenty of underwear: pants, socks, and some under-vests if the weather gets particularly cold. Binkley thought that underwear might not be the sort of thing that Master Phoenix was wanting to buy today with his new family, and Binkley wanted to spare Master Phoenix any awkwardness or embarrassment.”

Phoenix flushed scarlet, but mumbled a quick 'thank you’ before asking Binkley to turn away while he awkwardly pulled on a pair of black boxer briefs.

“Okay, Binkley, you can turn around now.”

Binkley handed the grey t-shirt to Phoenix, then helped him get his arm through the hole, then holding the blue and green plaid flannel shirt open for Phoenix to shrug into and buttoning it up, leaving the top few undone. Binkley then rolled the legs of the jeans up after Phoenix had wriggled them on, leaving Phoenix to zip up the brown boots that he had found. Binkley also gathered Phoenix's hair into a thick, curly, loose ponytail, leaving just a few strands framing his face.

“Uh, Binkley. What are we going to do about this?” Phoenix said, twisting his body back and forth so the empty sleeve flapped uselessly.

“Fear not, Master Phoenix. Binkley is already having thought of a solution!” And he produced an ordinary safety pin, and pinned the sleeve up out the way.

“Thank you. Can you lead me to the dining room for breakfast? I don't want to get lost.”

“Of course, sir. Please follow Binkley.”

*****

“Morning, Fen!” Scorpius greeted him happily as Phoenix seated himself at the breakfast table. Draco looked up from his copy of The Daily Prophet.

“Fen?” Draco looked at Scorpius as though he had a second head.

“Yeah. Short for Phoenix. It's my nickname for him.” Scorpius shrugged and helped himself to a croissant.

“Did you sleep well? You look very nice today.” Draco turned to his other son.

“Yeah, I slept amazingly. And Binkley picked out my clothes today.”

“Looks good. Anyway, I was thinking we could go to Diagon Alley today after we've finished up here, just the three of us. Obviously, the Hogwarts letters haven't arrived yet, but we need to buy clothes and belongings for you, Phoenix; and we need to get you a wand immediately. And I was thinking of treating you both, you know, because I can.”

“Treat us how?” Scorpius asked.

“Well, you've already got an owl, Scorpius, and if you think you'd be able to share Harry Hootini –”

“Yeah, of course. We can both share him.”

“Harry Hootini? Really?” Phoenix rolled his eyes. Draco signed wearily at Phoenix.

“Hey! That is a first-rate name and a bloody excellent pun!” Scorpius said indignantly, pointing his half-eaten croissant threateningly at his brother.

Draco and Phoenix shared a glance and snorted into their breakfasts.

“Anyway, back to my original point. If you two are willing to share an owl, I will buy each of you your own pet of your choice. We'll visit the menagerie in Diagon Alley before we go home.”

“Whoa, Dad! You're serious?!”

“Yes. I would request however that it is a pet that will not get immediately banned from Hogwarts. It should be a pet that you can take with you, a constant friendly companion, even though you have each other. You're lucky. In my day, you were only allowed an owl, a cat, or a toad. At least now, you have a pretty free reign with pets, as long as they don't hurt anyone and they're tame enough to not be dangerous.”

“But, a cat is still alright, right?” Scorpius said hopefully.

“Yes, Scorpius. We can look at cats if you want.”

“I love you. You're the best.”

Draco rolled his eyes.

“I can't wait to finally get my own wand!” Phoenix said, “Then I can actually start doing spells once I get to Hogwarts!”

“Why can't you do them at home as well?” Scorpius furrowed his brow.

“I thought – the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery –”

“Oh that! You don't need to worry about that! They can only tell when you use underage magic outside of school when you’re not in a fully qualified wizard or witch's home! Because our father's a fully qualified wizard, meaning that he's of age, they can't tell us off for doing magic at home!”

“Whoa, really?!” Phoenix looked like someone had just injected him with an Energising Elixir.

“Yes, you're allowed to do magic at home. The idea is that you'll be under the supervision of an adult witch or wizard, but personally, I've always been of the opinion that you can do as much magic as you want within the confines of the Malfoy property, as long as it's not directly endangering yourself or others. I trust you both enough to exercise self-control. But you are not to do magic unless you are in the Hogwarts grounds, or Malfoy Manor. And that goes for both of you until you turn seventeen. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Father.”

“We promise.”

“Good. First things first. We are going to the Ministry of Magic to register you as an Animagus, or Hermione Granger-Weasley will be after my blood.”

*****

Two hours later, and Phoenix's excitement had only grown. He was now practically vibrating with nervous, excited energy. The Animagus registration form had been simple enough (Draco had to co-sign it because Phoenix wasn't of age yet) and the three Malfoy men were now in Diagon Alley at Gringott's Wizarding Bank.

They had to get Phoenix's name added to the Malfoy vault, and he had to receive a copy of the key as well. When they eventually reached the Malfoy vault, Scorpius had burst out laughing at the dumbfounded look on his brother's face, before piling a few of the coins into two pouches for spending money for himself and Phoenix, whilst their father filled a pouch for general expenses and for that day's shopping.

Draco and Scorpius almost had to physically restrain Phoenix from running off when they exited onto the main high street of Diagon Alley. He was so excited and he wanted to look in every shop window he could.

Draco insisted that their first stop had to be buying clothes, as they really were a necessity. He took them to a shop that sold both wizarding and Muggle clothes. It took a fair amount of time for Draco to convince Phoenix that he was allowed to pick out stuff he wanted, he wasn't only allowed to buy one or two things. It overwhelmed him at first; he wasn't used to having a lot of money that he didn't have to worry about spending because he might need it for something more important. This was money that he could afford to spend on things he wanted. Phoenix (with his father and brother's help and input) picked out a lot of trendy-looking Muggle clothes, some casual wizard's robes, and even some beautiful dress robes in a midnight blue shade with silver embellishments.

Draco then dragged his sons to a furniture store, where they bought a chaise longue, a grand high-backed winged armchair that would be perfect for reading in, and a couple of small round tables made from a beautiful dark varnished wood. Draco opted for the delivery service, leaving instructions on where to put them so that the house elves could put them away.

Draco eventually gave in and let Phoenix and Scorpius drag him into Flourish and Blott's, where they were hard-pressed to stop Phoenix from buying every book he could get his hand on. They eventually left after having brought a couple of potions books, a copy of ‘Hogwarts: A History’, a book called ‘Magical Creatures of Britain and Ireland’, other books on magical creatures in all seven continents, books on NEWT-level Transfiguration and Charms, an Astronomy book, and a book on defensive magical spells for Phoenix, and books on Animagi, Patronuses, and extracurricular reading material on Ancient Runes for Scorpius.

Back in the high street, Draco turned to his sons. All three of them were laden down with as many bags as they could carry.

“Right boys, we've still got to buy Phoenix a wand, and then get to the menagerie before the store shuts. The only thing is, I don't know how you two are planning to each carry an animal as well as all that.”

“Hold on, I have an idea.” Phoenix raised his voice. “Binkley!”

A loud pop came from behind them, and they turned to see Binkley looking expectantly up at them.

“Master Phoenix called, sir? How is Binkley being able to help, sir?”

“Uh, well, Binkley, you see the thing is, we've still got a couple more shops to get to, but we're kind of struggling a bit here with all these bags. Is there any way you could get even a few of these back to Malfoy Manor so that we've got a couple of spare hands?”

“Of course, sir! But Binkley will be doing you one better, sir!” Binkley snapped his fingers, and in a puff of blue smoke, all of their shopping bags vanished, leaving their arms feeling much like they were floating after being so heavily weighed down.

“Wow, that's so much better.” Scorpius said, flexing his sore fingers.

“All of the shopping will be waiting for Masters when they get home! And Master Draco, Topsy is asking Binkley to tell you that the furniture is being at home too. Delivery men came to the Manor a minute or so ago.”

“Excellent, Binkley, thanks for letting me know.”

“Pleasure, sir. Is there anything else that Binkley can be doing for Masters?”

“No, I think that's all, Binkley. Thank you. Actually, why don’t you take the night off and relax?” Phoenix said to the house elf.

“Binkley is being most grateful, sir. Thank you, Master Phoenix! Binkley will be going and relaxing now, but if Master Phoenix is ending up needing Binkley, he mustn't worry, he just has to call and Binkley will come and help, sir.” And with that, Binkley vanished.

“Good thinking, Phoenix. Okay, let's get to Ollivander's first. Then the menagerie.” Draco led the way into Ollivander's wand shop. Mr Ollivander had retired soon after the Second Wizarding War, having been left quite frail after Voldemort's torture. He had passed the shop down to his granddaughter, Melanie. She was a cheery girl in her mid-twenties, with a tall willowy body and slender legs. Most of the time she wore flower-print dresses with her tortoise-shell glasses perched on her nose.

“Hello, Melanie.” Draco greeted her as they walked into the shop.

“Mr Malfoy! Good to see you. How can I help you today?” Melanie walked out from behind the counter and shook Draco's hand, beckoning them after her as she walked back to the counter.

“Surprisingly enough, I'm here to buy a wand.” Draco said with mock irritation, smothering a grin. Melanie laughed and jumped up to sit on the counter.

“Sarcastic as ever, I see. I guessed you were here for a wand. People don't usually come for the company. I meant, who for? I already sold Scorpius his wand, didn't I?”

“You did indeed. However, today we are in the market for a wand for my other son, Phoenix.” Said Draco, pulling Phoenix out from where he was standing half-hidden behind Scorpius.

“Pleased to meet you, dude. I didn't know you had another son, Malfoy.”

“He was adopted yesterday, Melanie.” Draco said, smiling broadly.

“Oh well, in that case, congratulations. I'll just need to get his measurements.”

Melanie held up a violet measuring tape, which promptly flew out of her hand and started taking Phoenix's measurements by itself, while Melanie left to pull a few wand boxes down from the packed shelves.

“Okay, that's enough.” Melanie said as she put the boxes down on the counter, and the tape-measure fell to the floor in a heap. “Here, try this one. Eleven and a quarter inches, Willow, core of dragon heartstring.”

Phoenix raised the wand, but it made the nearby ladder fall into pieces on the floor. Melanie repaired it with a wave of her wand, and took the wand off of Phoenix.

“No matter. See if this one's any better. Twelve and a half inches, Mahogany, with a unicorn tail-hair core.”

She took this wand back from Phoenix almost as soon as he'd started to raise it.

“Right. Let's try this one. It's a bit longer than we usually look at, but here. Fifteen and a half inches, Apple wood, with unicorn tail-hair core.”

Phoenix took the wand and raised it high above his head, giving it a little flick. A shower of golden canaries flew twittering from the end, flying in a circle near the ceiling. Melanie nodded happily, and Scorpius clapped his brother on the back.

“I think that's the wand for you, dude.” Melanie said with a smile, placing the wand back in its box and handing it to Phoenix.

“That's seven galleons, right Melanie?”

“For you, Mr Malfoy, it'll be four.” Draco’s handed over the coins and then shook Melanie’s hand.

“Thanks, Melanie. See you around.”

They walked out of Ollivander's, taking a moment to bask in the warm afternoon sun.

“I can't believe I've finally got my own wand!” Phoenix said in a throaty voice, looking at the long thin box in disbelief.

“Come on,” Draco said, putting in arm around Phoenix and guiding him around to follow Scorpius to the menagerie. “Let’s get to the menagerie, before your brother gets there first and tries to buy every cat in the place.”

*****

There was a lot of noise in the menagerie when the Malfoys entered. All the animals were making so much noise that it was like one big discordant note in an orchestra rehearsal. Scorpius hurried over to the counter and spoke to the witch that owned the shop.

“Hi, would I be able to look at the cats, please?”

The witch walked out from behind the counter and started unlocking some of the cages and placing their feline occupants onto the counter so Scorpius could see them.

“Do any of them have any powers that I should know about?” Scorpius asked, eyeing the cats warily.

The witch began listing them off, saying what breed of cat they were and what their power was (if they had one), including an American Shorthair that could breathe fire, a Persian cat that could change the colour of its fur at will, a Siamese cat that could fly (the witch had tethered that one to the counter), and a Sphynx cat that could turn invisible. Then, she reached the last one in the line.

“Now this one is a breed called a Maine Coon, and funnily enough, its size is perfectly normal. Maine Coons grow to maybe a little over a metre long, nose to tail.”

“Wow, that's enormous.”

The cat sitting on the counter was indeed very large, all the other cats looked like new-born kittens in comparison.

“And it's powers?” Draco asked, stepping forward beside Scorpius to look at it.

“Well, she's been here as long as I have been running this shop, so she's about sixty years old and doesn't seem to have matured since she became fully-grown. So I’d probably guess that longevity is one of them.”

“Merlin.” Draco whispered. “And you said 'one of them'?”

“Yes, sir.” Said the witch nodding seriously, “She has also developed this annoying habit of teleporting around the shop, or when I'm not in the shop, she'll teleport to wherever I am. But she'll do the same to any human she takes a fancy to.”

“Wow.” Said Scorpius, reaching a hand forward to stroke the Maine Coon's long grey fur. The cat purred loudly, shutting her eyes contentedly.

“She likes you.” Said Phoenix from behind them all. They turned round to face him. He had his hand over one of his ears and the other pressed into his shoulder to block out noise. He looked as though he was in pain.

“Hey champ, you okay?” Draco said in a concerned voice, walking over to check on him.

“Yeah, Papa, it's just very loud in here.” Draco furrowed his brow in confusion. Yes, it was loud in the shop, but no more than it was any other place in Diagon Alley.

“What do you mean, buddy?”

Phoenix tapped at the side for his head with his forefinger.

“I can understand all of them. What all these animals are saying.”

“How?”

“It’s one of the lesser known side-effects of being an Animagus. It's not usually this bad, but because I'm a Legilimens too, it comes a lot more naturally to me. And cats are easier to understand, it’s more second-nature, I guess, because I turn into a cat. And there's a lot of animals in here. All shouting that they want us to take them home.”

“Wow, um – okay. Do you need to step outside for a bit, just to clear your head?” Phoenix shook his head like he was trying to clear his mind.

“No, I’m fine. Just caught me by surprise is all.”

“Okay, if you're sure.” Draco still sounded unsure, but followed Phoenix to the counter.

“She likes me?” Scorpius asked his brother, still stroking the Maine Coon.

“Yeah, she said 'Back off, this human is mine' to all the other cats. Then you started stroking her and she said 'I like this human, I think I'll keep him'.”

Scorpius looked from Phoenix to the cat in utter bewilderment.

“That's so freaky. You can really understand all that?”

Phoenix nodded absently, starting to stroke the cat as well. Scorpius turned to their father.

“Dad. I know she's big, but can I have her? She's so fluffy. And she likes me.”

“Does it _have_ to be this one? She looks similar enough to your brother when he transforms, although she’s much bigger, I grant you. I just don’t want to be mixing up your brother and your cat constantly.” Draco whined. Scorpius gave his father a desperate and pleading look.

Draco was silent for a moment and then nodded in defeat.

“Fine, she’s yours, Scorpius.”

Scorpius ran to hug his dad before asking the witch how much she wanted for the cat.

“I’ll give you her and her favourite toy for two Galleons and five Sickles. That seem fair?”

“More than fair.” Draco said, handing her the money and shaking her hand. Scorpius picked up the cat around the middle and heaved her off the counter. It was hilarious watching Scorpius with his skinny, lanky arms, holding a cat that was just over half his size, but both of them seemed utterly content.

Draco turned to Phoenix.

“Did you see anyone you'd like to take a look at, buddy?”

Phoenix hesitated for a minute, then pointed at one of the higher up glass tanks. Inside was a glossy black cobra with just one patch of creamy-white scales under its chin.

“He's the only one not shouting at me to take them.”

The witch levitated the tank down onto the counter and opened it so the snake could slither out and coil itself up on the wood.

“He’s a Forest cobra. They come from the sub-Saharan parts of Africa. they're the largest species of the 'true' Cobras, that is, from the _'Naja'_ genus. Forest cobras are very adaptable, living anywhere from high-altitude forests to grasslands. Some people consider them to be semi-aquatic too, because they can swim very well, and have been known to hunt fish.”

“And its powers?” Draco asked. He seemed to be slightly wary of the snake, his eyes kept darting to it every now and then.

“Highly intelligent, as is that Maine Coon you bought. This cobra also changes the colour of its scales at will, though it's natural colour is this black colour. It is also able to change its size at will. I had to change its container to a glass tank because he kept shrinking and trying to escape. The smallest I've personally seen him shrink to is about the size of a normal earthworm, and the largest size I’ve seen it reach is about...” The witch seemed to be deliberating. “About the length of a train. We found him being smuggled into the country with a shipment of flying carpets, but he busted out of his container and then... well, busted the train.”

“The length of a train.” Draco said faintly, looking slightly sick.

“Yes, though his normal size is only about two and a half metres long.”

Phoenix and the snake seemed to be having a conversation. The snake hissed quietly at him.

“I don't think he hates you, really. Wary is the word. I just think he's worried that you might be very dangerous if you grow really big when we’re on our way to school. We get a train to Hogwarts, you see.” Phoenix had his head bent low, whispering his responses to the snake.

Another hiss.

“Everyone deserves a nice home. And I really wish I could take you home with me, but my Papa just adopted me yesterday, and I don't want to mess it up. I think he might also be worried that you'll get me into trouble if you eat somebody else's pet or poison someone or something.” The snake slithered over on the counter until he was in front of Draco and held up the end of his tail in the air in between them. He gave a long hiss and then looked at Phoenix expectantly.

“He says he pinkie promises not to hurt anyone or eat anyone or their pet.”

“Oh... Well, thank you for that.” Said Draco, awkwardly linking his little finger with the end of the snake’s tail, talking to it but not sure what to really do with himself. “But it's not just that. I knew this very bad man who stayed at my house for a while years and years ago, and he had a very big pet snake too. It just makes me a little bit more cautious around snakes is all.”

“You’re talking about Voldemort, aren't you?” Said Phoenix, ignoring how everyone else flinched at the name.

“Yes, buddy. Let's just say that I wasn't very happy when I was a teenager and I did some bad things to good people, because I was scared of the Dark Lord and what he could do.” Draco was fidgeting absently with the left sleeve of his robes.

“You were a Death Eater?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? That's all you're saying about it?” Draco looked incredulous and slightly closed-off.

“Yeah. I mean, it's been over twenty years since Voldemort died, and everybody else seems to be able to see that you're a different person than you were. And besides, you gave me a second chance at life by adopting me, maybe you should try giving yourself a second chance. Knowing what you did in the past doesn't change what I think of you now. You're a good person and a great dad.” Phoenix was mumbling a bit and blushing scarlet.

Draco huffed in laughter and rubbed his eyes which were stinging slightly.

“Are you just trying to butter me up so you can get the snake?”

Phoenix looked up at his father and gave him a genuine smile, full of love.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Is it working?”

Scorpius and Draco laughed. Draco seemed to wrestle with himself before he knelt down so that he was eye-level with Phoenix.

“You do realise that this snake, even at its regular size, is over twice your size, right?”

“I know, Papa.”

“Are you _absolutely sure_ that this is the pet you want?”

Phoenix dropped his head and nodded sullenly. Draco groaned.

“Okay, I'll make you a deal. Okay, buddy? I'll buy you the snake, but I expect you to be able to control it, okay? If it threatens anyone's safety or their life, he has to go, alright?”

Phoenix nodded fervently.

“Yes, Papa. I understand.”

“And while you're at Hogwarts, I expect you and Scorpius to both have a phial of anti-venom on you at all times. And Madame Pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron, will be keeping some in stock. Do I make myself clear? And if the Headmistress feels that you aren't keeping him well enough under control, he'll have to go. No negotiations. Deal?”

“Yes, Papa. Thank you!” Phoenix flung his arm around Draco. “I promise I'll take super good care of him and he won't hurt anyone.”

The snake hissed, and Draco didn't need to understand him to know that he was echoing Phoenix's statement.

“Okay. You can keep him.”

“That’ll be just two Galleons and eleven Sickles, please.” Said the witch behind the counter.

“Is that all?” Draco said disbelievingly.

“This snake never got on very well with the Giant African Land Snails in the tank next to him. To be quite honest, I'll be glad that they won't be trying to kill each other any more.”

“Very well. Two Galleons and eleven Sickles it is.” Draco handed over the money, and the snake slid gracefully onto the floor with a soft 'flump', before he climbed up Phoenix's body and draped himself over the boy's shoulders, winding himself securely round his torso.  
The witch considered the three Malfoys for a second before speaking again.

“Actually, tell you what I'm going to do. Because I like you guys, and your boys obviously seem to genuinely care about the well-being of their new pets, I'll throw in carriers for them, on the house.” And she placed a large wicker cat-carrier on the counter, setting a big wicker basket (like something a snake charmer would use) next to it. Draco started to protest, but the witch held up her hand.

“Oh no, sir, I insist. You remind me of my grandson. He'd be about your age now. But you seem to be a nice family, so please, take them as a gift and maybe, if someone you know is looking to buy an unusual and magical pet, maybe you could point them in my direction?” The witch smiled at Draco as he took the animal carriers off the counter.

“I’ll make sure to do just that. You have a lovely day, Ma’am. Thank you.” And Draco beckoned his sons out of the shop so they could apparate home.

They arrived in the living room of the Manor, and Phoenix immediately set his new pet snake down on a nearby armchair before enveloping his dad in a tight hug.

“Thanks, Papa. For – just, thank you.” His voice was slightly muffled as his face was squished against his dad's body. Draco handed the pet carriers off to Scorpius before bringing his hands round to pat Phoenix's back. He heard little sniffling noises coming from the vicinity of Phoenix's head.

“Hey, buddy, what's with the tears?”

“They're happy tears, Dad, it's just that – never mind, I’m just being stupid.” He pulled away from the hug, and his eyes were puffy and red with emotion.

“Hey, no, come on, talk to me.”

“It just – This is all so surreal. Like, part of me still thinks that maybe this is all just some elaborate dream and I'll wake up and things will be back to how they were. But it's not, and I have family, and they buy me things just because they'd make me happy. And no-one's ever done that for me before.”

Scorpius walked over to them and pinched Phoenix hard in the side.

“OW!”

“There. Now you know you're not dreaming. And get used to people liking you and wanting to make you happy, because it’s not going to stop.”

Phoenix was scowling at his brother, rubbing his side. Scorpius just shrugged, completely unabashed. Suddenly, Phoenix grabbed his wand out of its box.

“Levicorpus!”

Scorpius let out a yelp as he found himself hanging upside down by his ankle a foot off the floor. Draco fell about laughing as Scorpius flailed about.

“Hardy-har, very funny, Fen. You want to let me down now?”

“I don't know. What do you think, Papa? Does this serve him right for pinching me?” Phoenix grinned at his father who was still chuckling.

“Well, it'll certainly teach him not to underestimate you too much, won’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess you're right. Liberacorpus.” And with a flick of his wand, Scorpius came crashing to the floor.

“Okay. I'm impressed, but that was mean.” Scorpius scowled. Phoenix just stuck his tongue out at him.

“Right, before you guys start duelling in my living room, why don't you go and put all your purchases away? While you're at it, it might be an idea to start thinking of names for your new pets.”

Scorpius and Phoenix both picked up their pets and cackled with delight as they ran to their bedrooms.

*****

It hadn't taken Scorpius very long at all to put away his things, he'd only bought a few books after all. So he went across to his brother's room (carrying his huge pet cat) and knocked on the door, before walking in and flopping down on the bed.

“Hey.” Phoenix said, turning round briefly. He was busy organising his new books on his bookcase alphabetically by author.

“Hey. You need any help in here?”

“Um, yeah. If you wanted, you could levitate one of the little tables so it's in front of the window.”

“Sure.” Scorpius said, get his wand out of his pocket. “What about the armchair?”

“Over in the corner there should be fine.”

“You don't want it in front of the fireplace? Y'know, nice and cosy, reading by firelight?”

Phoenix turned around to face his brother with a look that was half amused, half unimpressed.

“Well, funnily enough, Scorp, I'm not that fond of fire at the moment.” It took Scorpius a long moment to understand what Phoenix was talking about before his eyes drifted to the scars on his face that were caused by the -

“Shit. I'm sorry, Fen, I ju—”

“Don't worry about it. I'm not mad. Let's just say that I have absolutely no intention of lighting that fireplace for the foreseeable future.”

“Gotcha. All the same, I should've thought. Sorry.”

“I told you, it's cool.” Phoenix said, smiling as he levitated the chaise longue so that it was at the foot of his bed.

The snake slithered over to it and draped himself over the back of it, still trailing his tail on the floor. Scorpius's cat disappeared with a pop and reappeared lying on the chaise longue, stretching out luxuriously.

“God, I hope they don't end up eating each other.” Scorpius said, watching them.

A disgruntled hiss and a lazy meow was all Scorpius got in response.

“They said they won't. They're best mates. Apparently they used to bitch to each other about the other animals in the store.” Phoenix said as he started hanging up his dress robes neatly into the wardrobe.

“Fair enough.”

Another hiss.

“He said he wouldn't want to eat her anyway. All of that hair would get caught in his system. Too much hassle.”

“Good to know.” Scorpius said, chuckling. He walked over and sat on the chaise longue, shifting the cat so that she was lying half on him. He stroked the head of the snake gently. Its scales changed to a mellow honey sort of colour before changing back to black again.

“What are you going to name her?” Phoenix nodded towards the cat.

“Mona Lisa.”

“What? Like that famous Muggle painting?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Scorpius nodded. “A priceless work of art. Also, a beautiful, but stoic and slightly intimidating lady.”

The cat purred.

“She likes it.” Phoenix said. Scorpius buried his fingers in Mona's soft fur.

“What about this snakey guy? What are you going to name him?” Scorpius watched the snake raise its head and slither gracefully off the chaise longue. The cobra wound its way up Phoenix's arm, shrinking as it went, until he was coiled up on top of Phoenix's head like a peculiar reptilian hat.

“Morpheus.” Phoenix said promptly. Scorpius nodded appreciatively.

“Cool name. What made you think of it?”

“In Ancient Greek times, Morpheus was the God of dreams. Also, y'know, my snake can change his colour and size, so 'morph' sounded appropriate.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah. Ooh, also, can I borrow your potions stuff at some point tomorrow?”

“Yeah sure. Why?”

“Dad made me promise that we'd both keep some anti-venom on us, just in case. I figured I'll make it tomorrow.”

“You know how to make anti-venoms?” Scorpius asked, surprised.

“Yeah. One of the other kids at the orphanage hid a poisonous spider under my pillow. So my options were 'make an anti-venom right now' or 'die a painful death'.”

“One of them actually tried to kill you?” Scorpius gasped, enraged.

“I don't think he was trying to kill me. He just wanted to scare me, and didn't realise that the spider was poisonous.”

“Still...” Scorpius muttered angrily.

“Don’t worry. I'm going to scare him back.”

“How?”

“He'll be at Hogwarts. As will a lot of the other kids from the orphanage. So, either my life is going to be hell, or it'll be the greatest revenge of all time.” He smirked.

“Hey, you know I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you at Hogwarts, right? I've got your back, Fen.”

“Thanks, Scorpius.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix meets the Potter family. How will they react, though? Will they like him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for villainsVortex, because they're awesome and deserve a shout-out for their super lovely comment! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> T xx

Next morning at the breakfast table found Scorpius sneaking Mona Lisa bits of kipper under the table.

“If you carry on like that, Scorpius, she'll become incorrigible.” Draco sighed over his newspaper.

Suddenly, a great scream of laughter could be heard, and Phoenix came skidding into the room in animal form being chased by a white cobra with rainbow polka-dots.

“Well, there’s something you don't see everyday.” Draco remarked drily as Scorpius exploded into heaving gasps of laughter. The kitten and the cobra were still playing, the snake taking fake shots at Phoenix while he meowed excitedly and jumped here and there dodging them.

“Phoenix, if you wouldn't mind, would you please join us for breakfast _before_ your brother has an asthma attack?” Draco remarked, not looking up from his newspaper and sipping his coffee. Scorpius was trying desperately to catch his breath between laughs. The tiny cat quickly ran over to the breakfast table and jumped up into one of the seats before sitting down and shifting back into his brother.

Morpheus slithered up the chair leg and onto Phoenix's hand, shrinking to a tiny size, before wrapping himself round Phoenix's middle finger like a hissing, living ring. He changed his scales back to black.

“That was amazing! Pure, unbridled, comedic excellence.” Scorpius chuckled, finally calming himself down enough to form a coherent sentence.

“It was mildly amusing, I grant you.” Said Draco, a smile tilting the corners of his mouth. “Why the rainbow polka-dots?”

“I wanted to see how crazy we could go with his colour-changing abilities, so I started just asking for weird random colour combinations.”

Before Draco could reply, a house elf popped into the room.

“Master Scorpius, sir! Albus Potter's head is being in the living room fire, sir.”

“WHAT?!”

“Relax, Fen, his decapitated head is not burning in flames, it’s just a Floo call. Thank you, Clipper. In fact, Fen, come meet Albus! I can't wait for you to meet him!”

Scorpius got down from the table and grabbed Phoenix's hand before he had even had a chance to grab any breakfast, dragging him down the vast hallways to the living room, where a boy's head was indeed waiting patiently in the fire.

“Hey babe.” The boy called Albus smiled at Scorpius, who flushed but smiled back all the same.

“Hey, Albus.”

“It’s ‘Babe’, huh?” Phoenix was smiling conspiratorially, glancing with significance between the two of them, though Scorpius noticed that he maintained a very wary distance from the fire, glancing nervously at it now and again.

“Oh. Hey... Person I don’t know. There with my boyfriend. Um, Scorpius, who's this?”

“Oh, this is Phoenix. Phoenix, meet Albus. He’s my boyfriend, but don’t tell dad yet. Albus, meet Phoenix. He’s my new little brother. Emphasis on the ‘little’. Ow!” Phoenix had elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“Wait, back up a sec. Brother? Since when do you have a brother, Scorpius?”

“Erm, since two days ago. Dad adopted him.”

“Oh. Um. Well... Okay.” Albus said awkwardly. “Dad wanted me to invite you guys over for dinner tonight. Guess I know why mum was talking about setting an extra place at the table. Nice to meet you, by the way, I guess. Sorry, I'm not usually this weird, I swear. Just surprised.”

“Nah, it's cool.”

Albus nodded.

“Anything else you want to tell me, Scorpius?”

“Erm... Wait! I know! I got a cat yesterday!” Scorpius grabbed Mona Lisa under her arms and lifted her up so Albus could see her from where he was in the fire.

“Holy Hufflepuff, that is a big bloody cat.”

Mona Lisa meowed loudly at Albus.

“She says ‘You're one to talk, 'cause you've got a bloody great nose and all’.” Phoenix blurted out.

Albus's face turned stony.

“Sorry, babe. Mona Lisa probably did say that. Fen can understand her, you see.” Scorpius soothed.

“Can he now?” Albus didn't look convinced. His voice sounded confrontational, and his eyes were drawn together.

“Look babe, I _promise_ he wasn't trying to insult you, so don't you start getting all self-conscious thinking that your nose is huge. I happen to love you, Pinocchio.”

“Okay, I'm going now.” Albus rolled his eyes.

“No, baby, I'm kidding. I love you. You know that. We'll explain everything when we come over, I promise. Okay? Just please don't obsess over it, I know how you get when you get upset by something. You fixate on it.” Scorpius pleaded.

“I do not fixate on everything.”

“You fixate. You, Albus Severus Potter, fixate.”

Albus smiled fondly.

“Whatever. Okay fine, but it better be a damned good explanation. And I want to meet that cat in person. Bring her with you tonight.” Albus turned away from the fire for a second. “Dad says it's okay.”

“Can Phoenix bring Morpheus?”

“Who's Morpheus?”

“My pet cobra.” Phoenix supplied.

“Yeah, sure, bring him. My dad can speak Parseltongue, so I doubt he'd mind. Oh, Scorpius, by the way, James figured us out.”

“How did he take it?” Scorpius winced.

“Really well, it turns out. Who knew I had the best big brother ever, huh?”

“Well, turns out I'm the best big brother in the world now.” Scorpius stuck his tongue out at Albus.

“Yeah yeah. Did you tell your dad yet? What about your grandma? How did they take it?”

Scorpius had just opened his mouth to say that he hadn't told Draco yet, but another voice spoke up first.

“We took it perfectly well, Albus.” Three heads turned towards the doorway, where Narcissa and Draco stood smirking.

“Grandmother! Father! How long have you been standing there?” Scorpius shot to his feet, knocking Mona Lisa off his lap.

“The whole time.” Draco shrugged, moving forwards.

“So you heard everything we were talking about?”

Draco and Narcissa nodded.

“Oh.” Scorpius said lamely. “A-and what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Me and Albus, y'know, dating.”

“I think your grandmother owes me ten Galleons.” Said Draco with a grin.

“You made a bet on me and Albus?”

“Son, we both knew you liked each other probably before the two of you did. I won the bet, because I said you were going to tell us before your birthday. Your grandmother would have won it if you’d told us on or after your sixteenth birthday.”

Scorpius gaped at his father. Albus, for his part, looked like he wanted to end the Floo call and hide somewhere.

“So you don't have a problem wi—”

“Come on, Scorpius, give your father some credit. He's not a caveman. He loves you no matter what, child. Neither of us cares as long as the two of you are both safe and happy. Now, finish the call with your boyfriend, and then teach your cat some manners.” Narcissa interrupted, looking over her glasses at her grandson before striding out the room.

“I love you, son.” Draco said, before following his mother.

Scorpius and Phoenix turned back to the fire.

“Well...” Said Albus, looking faintly sick. “That went well, I guess.”

“Yeah.” Scorpius said distractedly, shaking his head disbelievingly.

“I'm going to go... give you two some privacy. Just wanted to say sorry if you thought I was insulting you earlier.” Phoenix stood up straight.

“No worries, man. I guess I'll see you later tonight.”

“Cool. Later.” Phoenix called good bye before walking out of the living room and choosing to go back to his bedroom as opposed to going back to get breakfast.

 _“Aren't you hungry?”_ Morpheus hissed at him, growing to a larger size and wrapping himself securely around Phoenix's shoulders and torso.

“Not really.” Phoenix replied. “I’ve got a wand now. There’s a lot of spells I want to practise. And a library I want to raid. And a whole bunch of anti-venom to make.”

 _“Don’t you trust me?”_ Morpheus accused with what can only be described as a sardonic undertone, or as much as that is possible for snakes.

“I trust you. I just don’t trust other humans to not piss me off to the point where I get you to bite them. Humans suck.”

_“Agreed. What shall we do now, then?”_

“I am going to hole myself up in that library with a humongous pot of coffee and read until my eyes go funny.”

*****

“OW!” Came a yell as a deafening bang emanated from Phoenix's bedroom, smoke curling underneath the door.

Draco and Scorpius barged through the door in panic, yelling Phoenix's name. They couldn't see through the smoke.

“It’s okay, guys. I'm here.” Phoenix coughed chestily. “Oh this is ridiculous! Evanesco! Dissipato!” The smoke was sucked out of the air and disappeared into the end of Fen’s wand, the potion vanishing from the still faintly steaming cauldron. Phoenix and Binkley were staring at the cauldron with slightly dazed and surprised expressions on their faces. Both of their faces were covered in black soot, and Phoenix's hair was standing on end as though he'd been electrocuted. He coughed and waved a hand in front of his face to clear the air.

“I appreciate your appetite for curiosity and experimentation, but if possible, I would be very grateful if you could refrain from causing minor explosions. It would save me a great deal of stress and anxiety, and indeed, cleaning up afterwards. Also, I have no desire to start getting grey hairs any time soon, but if you continue to attempt to rob me of my piece of mind, you shall drive me towards becoming a nervous wreck.” Draco sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Phoenix smiled sheepishly, still looking as though he had a huge pom-pom for hair.

“Sorry, Papa. I was making the anti-venom potion like you wanted, but I forgot to adjust the recipe for snake venom as opposed to spider venom.” He explained, peering into a bottle of cloudy liquid that Scorpius supposed must be the venom that he had collected from Morpheus.

“What are all these ingredients for? A simple anti-venom needs very few ingredients.” Draco frowned at the wide array of Scorpius's spare potions ingredients that surrounded Phoenix, all laid out neatly categorised in alphabetical order.

“The recipe I like to use combines a common anti-venom with the Wiggenweld potion. The Wiggenweld potion heals minor injuries; it basically acts as a stimulant. Anti-venom itself can often have side-effects like anaphylaxis, serum sickness and stuff like that. So combining it with the Wiggenweld prevents any adverse reactions to the anti-venom itself. It also enables the anti-venom to be taken orally instead of intravenously, which is much easier to do in a stressful situation. The only problem is, spider venom has a bad reaction with Flobberworm mucus, so I had to adjust the recipe, and I accidentally forgot to make the original version of the recipe.”

“You could counteract the reaction with the spider venom by adding lacewing flies, although of course it depends on how much you're having to make as to how many lacewing flies you need. Though, of course, you won't need it in this case if it's snake venom.” Scorpius said enthusiastically, peering interestedly at the handwritten recipe that Phoenix had on the floor next to him.

“An ingenious notion, Phoenix. And Scorpius, a very creative solution. I'm proud of you two. Though I admit that I'm also terrified at the amount of chaos that you two could cause with your combined intellects.”

Scorpius and Phoenix beamed at Draco's praise.

“Uh, Dad, we should probably start getting ready to go to Albus's house.” Scorpius said, looking at his pocket watch.

“You’re right, son. Sorry Phoenix, you'll have to make the anti-venom when we get back, or tomorrow morning. The three of us need to get ready. I shall meet you at the living room fire in twenty minutes.” Draco said, sweeping out of the room.

Binkley packed away the potions ingredients quickly and bowed out of the room.

“Um, Scorpius?” Phoenix said as Scorpius made for the door.

“Yeah, bud?”

“I've never met your friend before, or his family. Well, except for his dad. But I want to make a good impression. Can you help me? With what to wear, I mean.” Phoenix said, throwing open the wardrobe doors.

Scorpius assured Phoenix that he would help him as soon as he was ready himself, so he dashed across the hall into his own bedroom, and changed into suitable attire, before checking his appearance in the mirror and, satisfied, walking back into his adopted brother's bedroom where Phoenix could be found pacing nervously.

“Chill out, Fen. We have plenty of time.” Scorpius reassured him with a smile, leading his brother over to look at clothing options. “We want smart casual. We don't want to get too dressed up, so we won't be going with the dress robes. Muggle clothing will be fine if you want, the Potters wear Muggle clothing all the time. Not too formal, because you know, the occasion just doesn't call for it. But all the same, Malfoy men have a certain image and reputation to uphold, so we want to meet in the middle for smart, but remaining comfortable as well.”

Phoenix nodded, his brow furrowed. He looked determined to take in everything that Scorpius said, and looked eager to prove himself worthy of being called 'Malfoy'.

“I'd probably go with these Muggle jeans with the brown boots you were wearing when we went shopping. And I'd go for this shirt, with this v-neck jumper over the top. What do you think?” Scorpius laid the items out on the bed and stood back so Phoenix could look.

“Sounds good. And what are we going to do about _this_?” Phoenix moaned in dismay as he pointed upwards at his hair, which had deflated slightly on one side, as though someone had been trying to (inexpertly) trim a hedge, and Phoenix had been caught in the crossfire.

Scorpius had to cover his mouth to keep the laughter from escaping, though he wasn't altogether sure that he succeeded.

“I’ll take care of it, don't worry.” Scorpius said, holding up a bottle of hair potion that he’d grabbed from his bedroom and brandishing his wand dangerously. Phoenix gulped.

*****

Scorpius and Phoenix arrived together in the living room with Mona Lisa and Morpheus to find Draco standing there grimly.

“Bad news, boys. We can't apparate there. Seems the Potters had a bit of bother with a Daily Prophet reporter bugging them for information about the fire at the orphanage. They had reporters waiting outside their door, so Harry had to put up extra wards for the sake of their privacy. So the only way you can apparate anywhere near the perimeter of their property is if one of the residents is with you at the time. You know, Side-along Apparition. It just means that we're going to have to use Floo powder to get there.”

Scorpius grimaced, and turned to see how Phoenix would react to literally having to stand in a fire so soon after the accident at the orphanage. But Phoenix wasn't there. Morpheus was alone on the floor where Phoenix had previously been holding him. Scorpius heard a quiet mewing, and bent down to see Phoenix (in tiny kitten form) hiding under the sofa, quivering with fright and refusing to come back out.

With difficulty, Draco managed to get a hold of the miniscule feline and pull him out from under the sofa. Phoenix was plainly terrified, trying desperately to get out of Draco's grip.

“Phoenix, calm down. I promise you’re going to be alright! I want to give you a Calming Draught before we leave. Scorpius is going to go first, and after you've taken the Calming Draught, you're going to go through the Floo network _with_ me. I'll be right there with you, I promise. Do you really think that I'd make you use the Floo by yourself when I know how much the fire affected you? Of course I wouldn't make you do it alone. I'll be right there with you, okay?”

The kitten in Draco's hands still looked very distressed, but stopped his frantic squirming. The kitten nodded and Draco put him on the floor so Phoenix could pop back to human. He took the phial of Calming Draught with trembling hands and knocked it back in one.  
Gradually, Phoenix began to look much less panicked. Scorpius could tell he was still terrified at the thought of taking the fire to the Potters' house, but now he looked less likely to run away, and he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. Morpheus slithered off the floor and curled himself into his usual place wrapped around Phoenix’s torso and left shoulder.

Morpheus gave a low hiss into Phoenix’s ear.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Let’s just get this over with.” Phoenix replied tiredly.

Draco nodded at Scorpius, who hitched Mona Lisa securely into his arms and walked over to the fireplace. He took one last apprehensive look behind him to see if Phoenix was okay, before he threw the powder down, shouted 'Grimmauld Place!', and disappeared in a whoosh of green flames.

Draco led Phoenix by hand to the fireplace. Morpheus shrank himself down and wrapped himself around Phoenix’s wrist, like a reptilian bracelet.

“Papa...” Phoenix said in a tremulous voice. “I’m scared, Papa.”

Draco crouched down and pulled Phoenix into a hug, nestling his son's head into his neck.

“I know, Phoenix. But I'm right here. Just close your eyes and it'll all be over before you know it.” Draco murmured into his son's hair.

Phoenix clutched tightly onto Draco's suit jacket and squeezed his eyes shut, before Draco threw down the glittering Floo powder, and sent them to Grimmauld Place.

*****

All the members of the Potter family were assembled in the living room, waiting to greet their guests. Normally, they wouldn’t stand on ceremony like this if it was just Scorpius and his dad coming to dinner, because that was a fairly regular occurrence, but James supposed that all the pomp and circumstance was for the new son Mr Malfoy apparently had. James’s father had told them next to nothing about the kid, just that he was fourteen years old.

Scorpius had come through the fireplace first, holding a huge cat in his arms, and warned them of the situation. Harry swore loudly.

“Shit! I should have bloody realised that fire would be a sodding problem! Why didn’t I think?! I could’ve apparated them here myself. That poor kid.”

Ginny covered her daughter's ears.

“Lily, honey, don't pay any attention to daddy's bad language. You're not to swear, okay?”

“Mum, I'm thirteen!” Lily wriggled out of her mother's clutches and scowling at her.

“He should be alright once he gets here. Dad gave him a Calming Draught before I left.” Scorpius said, running a hand through his hair.

James dragged Scorpius aside and hissed quietly at him.

“Okay, why was my brother coming to me practically in tears after he talked to you? He kept trying to get me to shrink his nose down by magic. What the fuck did you say to him? He was freaking out.” James growled. Scorpius swore under his breath.

“Basically, my cat is rude, my brother can talk to animals, and he told Al what the cat said about him. He didn't believe me, though. Man, I told him not to freak out. You know I love him. You know I wouldn't say anything like this about him, don't you?” Scorpius worried his lip agitatedly. James sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I thought I must be missing something; but can you please talk to him? Y'know, like reassure him? He's pretty bent out of shape about it.”

“Yeah, of course I will. It'll help when Phoenix gets here and Al can meet him.”

As if on cue, Scorpius’s dad appeared in the fireplace in a flash of emerald green flames, kneeling down and hugging a much smaller person to him, as though to protect him from the flames. James couldn’t see the kid’s face, but could see him shaking in Mr Malfoy’s grip. He could hear Mr Malfoy hushing the boy quietly.

“Hey, it’s alright now. You can open your eyes now, buddy. We’re here.”

The boy slowly extracted himself from Mr Malfoy’s hold and turned to step cautiously out of the fireplace. James realised with a jolt in his stomach that the kid only had one arm. He also registered the burns that covered the kid’s face and neck. Though James couldn't help but notice how startling his eyes were; they were so strikingly blue, like ice in the ocean.

Mr Malfoy stepped out of the fireplace after the boy and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.

“Ginny. Kids. I’d like to introduce you to my son, Phoenix Malfoy.” Mr Malfoy smiled broadly at all of them. “Phoenix. This is Mrs Potter, you've met Mr Potter already, of course. And these are their children; James, Albus, who I believe you've also met briefly already, and Lily.”

James held out his hand for Phoenix to shake. It was only after everyone was staring at him that James realised that the kid obviously couldn't shake it, because he had no bloody right hand. A beat of silence...

And then Phoenix burst into laughter.

A deep sigh of relief went through everyone else. James thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't offended Phoenix; what a fine fucking first impression that would've been!

“Oh my god, you're hilarious! I like you, Potter!” Phoenix said, wiping tears from his eyes. James flushed with embarrassment and held out his other hand for Phoenix to shake, which he took, still chuckling.

“James, why don't you kids take Scorpius and Phoenix upstairs and get to know each other before dinner's ready?” Ginny stepped forward, a maternal smile on her face, which so greatly resembled Grandma Weasley's.

James nodded, and grinned, leading the way up to his bedroom in the converted attic. Everyone got comfy on the floor, sitting in a circle. Albus was peering suspiciously at Scorpius's cat, as though he didn't trust her one bit. Lily, bless her cotton socks, was already besotted with the fluffy cat, stroking it gently and inducing loud purring noises to come from her. Albus turned to Phoenix.

“I thought you had a snake? Where is it?” Albus's voice was slightly tense. James frowned; Albus was usually pretty laid-back and polite, but what was with the bluntness? He was probably still upset about the comment about his nose earlier, James thought. God bless him, Al was awesome, but he was always certain that there was something for someone to hate about him; such a shy kid.

Phoenix didn’t reply with words, but looked Albus in the eye and put his hand flat on the floor. A cobra slid from around his wrist. James hadn't even noticed it was there. As he watched, the snake grew and grew and grew, until it took up most of the extra room in James's bedroom. James stared in shock, but his mouth fell completely open when the snake turned abruptly from black to hot pink and back again.

“What the fuck?” James gasped, completely nonplussed.

Phoenix smirked and, satisfied that he had sufficiently shocked them, whistled and nodded at the snake.

“Come on, Morpheus. Give us a bit of room, here.” He admonished lightly the cobra, who hissed at him.

“I don't care if you think it's fun, you're going to give them heart attacks. Now come on.” He said. James was surprised, to say the least.  
The snake hissed at him again, but grudgingly shrank back down to about two metres long, and coiled himself up next to Phoenix.

“So you _can_ talk to animals?” Albus asked, incredulously.

“Yes he can.” Said Scorpius. “I told you he could. Have I ever lied to you before?” Scorpius looked a little hurt that Albus hadn't believed him.

“How is it you can speak to animals, anyway?” Said James quickly, diffusing the situation. Phoenix turned to him with a smile.

“I'm an Animagus. Any Animagus can learn to talk to animals with practice, but because I'm also a born Legilimens, it came very naturally to me without the practice.” Phoenix shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Holy crap. This kid was a Legilimens! James practically vibrated with excitement. He definitely wanted to talk to Phoenix about that! On the other hand, that shot way too close to his own secret, and he didn't want anybody else to know about that just yet, so he opted for the other piece of information Phoenix had given them.

“You're an Animagus? Let's see!” James said excitedly, looking expectantly at the kid. Phoenix, however, looked uneasily at Scorpius.

“I don’t know... Papa says we aren't allowed to do magic when we're not at Hogwarts or Malfoy Manor...” He said awkwardly, glancing at Scorpius for help.

“Don't worry about that, Fen. Mr and Mrs Potter are super relaxed. They let us do magic. It's okay as long as you have the homeowner's permission.” Scorpius reassured his little brother.

“Okay, but I should probably still go and ask, just as a common courtesy.” Phoenix got to his feet and dusted off his jeans, before walking briskly out of the room.

James and Albus besieged Scorpius with questions while he was gone. They learned that his full name was Phoenix Narcissus Forrest Malfoy, and that he turned into a cat when he transformed. Scorpius told them that he was apparently super smart (and coming from Scorpius, that was indeed saying something), with a particular gift for potion-making. They also learned that he was half-goblin, which explained his height and ears, both of which James had immediately noticed. Scorpius told them briefly about how he'd grown up in St. Helga's orphanage, and had got the scars and lost his arm as a result of the fire, but Scorpius obviously wasn't keen on talking about the subject, so they steered the conversation away pretty quickly. They heard excited running back up the stairs, but Phoenix stopped just out of view of the open bedroom door.

James heard a small ‘meow’, and a tiny three-legged kitten struggled up the rest of the stairs, padding into James's bedroom and sitting down exactly where Phoenix had been beforehand. Lily squealed with delight at the little furball, and Phoenix transformed smoothly back to human with a pleased grin on his face.

“Ta-da!” He cried.

“Okay. That was pretty cool.” James nodded appreciatively. “On the subject of cats... Scorpius, what's your cat's name?”

“Mona Lisa.” Scorpius replied promptly, going on to explain the reasoning behind the name.

“Why not 'Meow-na Lisa’? Seems like kind of a missed opportunity.” James asked. Scorpius stared at James, completely dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in shock.

“Well, that's just destroyed my dignity, reputation, and title as the best pun-maker ever. Thanks a lot, dick.” Scorpius scowled as James, Albus, and Phoenix howled with laughter. Albus changed the subject.

“And what's the snake’s name again, Phoenix?”

“Morpheus.” Phoenix said, stroking his scaly head. “He’s a forest cobra.”

“So one of your middle names is _Forrest_ , and your snake is a _forest_ cobra?”

“And his Animagus form is a Norwegian _Forest_ Cat.” Scorpius added, grinning.

The five of them burst out laughing at the coincidence.

“Oh god, I really fell into that one, huh?” Phoenix scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sure did, Pipsqueak.” James nodded. Phoenix glared at him.

“Pipsqueak?” He said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” James smiled, not caring whether Phoenix liked it or not. “From now on, I shall call you Pipsqueak, or Pip for short.” Phoenix groaned.

“Why?” He moaned.

“Because you're tiny. Both in Animagus form, and in half-human form.” James said. “And it starts with the letter 'P', so it's settled.”

Phoenix turned to glare at Scorpius.

“You told them?”

“Yeah.” Scorpius said, looking worried. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal to you. It's not a big deal to anyone else here.”

“It’s not.” James confirmed. “It’s just something else to know about you. Don't really give a toss if you're half-goblin.” James shrugged noncommittally.

“It just... People did care... Back where I came from.” Phoenix muttered, looking into his lap, blushing.

“You’ll get idiots everywhere you go.” Said Lily said resolutely. Then she smirked. “At least now I get to be taller than someone I know!”

James and Albus snorted in laughter. Thank God for Lily, James thought. She always knew just what to say to make a person feel at ease, to make them feel accepted. Phoenix smiled at her.

A few minutes later, Lily wandered off to her own bedroom, getting bored and going off to finish the History of Magic essay she had been given as holiday work, and the four boys were left to their own devices.

“So you're a Legilimens, huh, Pipsqueak?” James whispered to Phoenix while Scorpius and Albus were having their own conversation (James had a sneaking suspicion that Scorpius was once again trying to convince Albus that his nose was just fine the way it is). Phoenix nodded, sighing resignedly at the nickname.

 _“I am indeed.”_ Phoenix said inside his head. James jumped slightly, not expecting it. 'Fuck it’, James thought. Why should he be afraid? Finally, someone he can relate to!

 _“Me too.”_ James said back. _“But please. Don't tell anyone.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Because I'm scared, Pipsqueak.”_ James smiled sadly at Phoenix.

_“I think you should tell people. But I promise I'll leave it to you to do it. I'll keep my mouth shut.”_

_“Thank you. I want to tell people. But I just want to do it in my own time.”_ James sighed, relieved.

Talk turned to Hogwarts.

“So what house are you hoping to be in, Phoenix?” Albus said. He seemed to have relaxed around Phoenix now, treating him perfectly normally.

“Slytherin or Hufflepuff.” Phoenix said seriously. Albus and James snorted.

“Hufflepuff? I mean, Slytherin, I get. That's understandable. But _Hufflepuff_?” James said incredulously. Phoenix looked indignant.

“Hufflepuffs are just, loyal, and hard-working. That doesn't seem so bad to me.” Phoenix said curtly.

“No offence meant, Pip. It's just that Hufflepuff isn't most people’s first choice.” James said placating him.

“Well, I'm not most people, am I? To be honest, I just can’t wait to actually get to Hogwarts. I just hope I won't be too far behind everyone.” Phoenix said nervously.

“You won't be, you'll be fine. From what Scorpius tells us, you kept up pretty well at St. Helga's.” Albus reassured him.

“Yeah. I gotta say, pinching other people's spellbooks and stuff; that takes guts. Good on you.” James nodded, impressed.

“It's not just that. Basically, all the other kids at the orphanage loved being at school. But they didn't so much love having to do the homework over the summer holidays. So they used to make me do it.”

“So let me get this straight; you have had no formal magical education, but you managed to do all the summer homework for all of the other orphans?”

“Sure did. Best marks they ever got.” Phoenix smirked. “I can't wait to see them struggle when they realise how much trouble they're in without me.”

They all laughed uproariously.

“You’re a smart cookie, that's for sure, Pipsqueak.”

“You bet your arse I am, Freckles.” Phoenix said, daring to wink at James.

“F-freckles?” James spluttered, his face practically crimson.

Out of the three children that Harry and Ginny had had, James was the only one to inherit the Weasley freckles. Albus and Lily both had amazing, fair, flawless skin; but James had a splash of brown freckles across his nose and cheeks. It was the one thing about his appearance that ever made him feel self-conscious.

“Yeah.” Said Phoenix, smiling at him. “You’ve got all those cute little freckles on your nose and cheeks.”

James's hand drifted self-consciously up to his cheek.

 _“You're cute when you're ill-at-ease.”_ Phoenix said inside his head.

_“You like my freckles?”_

_“Yeah, they're adorable, dude. But if the nickname seriously bothers you, you know I'll sto—”_

_“No! No, I mean, it's fine... I like it... You can call me Freckles.”_

_“Ok... Freckles.”_ Phoenix shot a small smile in James's direction, and then turned to join seamlessly in with Scorpius and Albus's conversation as though nothing had happened, leaving James flustered and wondering what the hell had just happened.

The thing is, James had a bit of a reputation at Hogwarts... With the ladies. Fuckboy, boy-slut, man-whore, whatever you want to call it, that was what everybody thought about James. James hated it; and he wasn’t like that at all! They all broke up with _him_! As soon as they had got what they wanted from the 'eldest son of the famous Harry Potter’, they threw him aside as though he was nothing, abandoning him, breaking his heart, and wondering what on Earth he'd done wrong.

But he put on fake smile and brushed it off, because... He didn't know why. It kept happening, and it really hurt. James... God damn it, he was _lonely_. He just wanted someone that loved him, and would hold him, and he would hold them, and they'd be happy, and was that so much for James to ask from the world? James was jealous of Albus for this very reason. He had Scorpius. It had always been him and Scorpius. James wanted what Albus had; a loyal, committed, loving relationship.

“KIDS!!!! DINNER'S READY!” Phoenix jumped as Ginny Weasley’s voice shouted up the stairs.

Downstairs in the dining room, the adults were already sat at the table, and talking happily over sips of wine from ornate crystal glasses. When the children walked into the room, Harry stood up and smiled, encouraging the children to sit down.

“Actually, Phoenix. Would I be able to talk to you for just a moment?” Harry set his wine glass down on the table and walked just past the doorway as conversation started up at the dinner table. Phoenix frowned curiously and followed Mr Potter out of the room. Why would he want to talk to Phoenix alone?

“So, Phoenix.” Mr Potter said, speaking softly. “I just want to apologise to you. It didn't immediately occur to me how difficult and distressing it might be for you to use the Floo network after the fire. I didn't think, and I want to apologise for putting you through a situation like that.”

“Oh. Don't worry about it, Mr Potter. I mean, yeah, it was a bit rough, but I can't carry on my whole life being scared of fire, can I? I've got to get over it sooner or later.”

“Phoenix, it's been just a few days since the fire. It is perfectly okay for you to be scared. To be quite honest, I’d be worried if you weren't. Grown adults would be scared.” Mr Potter gave him a paternal smile, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.

“Really?” Phoenix said in a small voice.

“Really. Take me for example. After my parents died, I was sent to live with my Muggle aunt and uncle in Surrey. They hated magic, my parents, and by extension, me. They hated me my whole life. When I was little, my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs; and they used to lock me in there whenever I did anything wrong, no matter how insignificant it was; whether it was a muddy footprint on the carpet, or a smudge mark on the window. It didn't matter if it was an accident or if it was the tiniest most insignificant thing. Once, they locked me in there for a week because I burned the bacon on my Uncle Vernon's birthday breakfast.”

“Really?” Phoenix gasped in shock.

“Yep. And to this day, I _hate_ small spaces. Claustrophobia, it's called. All because of that cupboard under the stairs when I was a kid. So my point is, if you’re scared, it's perfectly reasonable, and there's ways you can get around it. You’re allowed to be scared, and you do not have to pretend that you're not.”

“Thank you, Mr Potter.” Phoenix mumbled timidly.

“No problem. Now, let's go eat. You're going to love the treacle tart we've got for pudding. It's my favourite.”

*****

After dinner, everyone felt very pleasantly full and calm. It was decided that James's dad would apparate with the Malfoys to Malfoy Manor, before taking the Floo network back home. Phoenix tried to say the he needn't bother, that they'd be fine taking the Floo network back to Malfoy Manor, but nobody would hear of it.

The four boys were once again left to hang out for a bit while the adults had an after-dinner aperitif. Albus and Scorpius had fled towards Albus's bedroom and were making out furiously behind closed doors, leaving Phoenix to hang out with James until it was time to go.

“You know, it's been a pretty good evening tonight.” James said with a satisfying belch, rubbing his stomach contentedly. He was sitting on the floor, leaning his back against his bed. He had Phoenix's pet cobra Morpheus wrapped loosely around his shoulders; apparently the snake had decided that he liked James. Morpheus flicked his tongue out lazily.

Phoenix was sitting on James's bed, flicking through one of James's NEWT Charms textbooks. James was surprised that Phoenix seemed to be understanding any of it; a lot of the people in James's class didn't understand half of it. He looked down over the edge of the bed at James. James tilted his head up so he could see him.

“Yeah, this has been really fun.” Phoenix said with a smile. “Thanks for letting me hang out with you so I'm not stuck having to watch the others making out.”

James snorted with laughter.

“No worries, Pip. I wouldn't want you to get permanently emotionally scarred if I could do something to stop it.” James chuckled.

“So you're a Gryffindor prefect, yeah?”

“Yep. Got the badge in my fifth year.”

“That’s so cool. So are you like this super-sophisticated model of good behaviour at Hogwarts?” Phoenix teased. James let out a bark of laughter.

“Oh bloody hell, no! I'm a bit of a troublemaker, really. Gotta have a bit of fun, haven't you? What's the fun in life if you're not getting up to a bit of mischief?” James smirked.

“Touché.” Phoenix nodded approvingly.

“Why do you ask?” James shifted and turned to face Phoenix.

“I don't know... I guess I'm just a little worried about starting Hogwarts and I figured... I don't know, maybe... it would help to have a couple of friends before I got there. Doesn't hurt that you're also a prefect.”

“There’s nothing wrong with making friends. But what are you worried about? What do you think is going to happen?” James frowned, getting up to sit next to Phoenix on his bed.

“It's stupid, really. I don't even know wh—”

“Phoenix.” James interrupted sternly. _“Come on, what are you frightened of?”_ James continued using his Legilimency.

_“The other kids from the orphanage... They'll all be at Hogwarts. They hated me before, but now they blame me for burning the orphanage to the ground. I guess I'm just worried about them wanting to get me back for it.”_

_“You think that they're going to attack you?”_

_“They might try to.”_ Phoenix confirmed. _“I just - I'm scared that they'll get me when I'm not expecting it.”_

_“Pipsqueak, they are not going to get to you at all. You've got Scorpius, and Albus, and me. The Three Musketeers just became the Fantastic Four.”_

_“What's that?”_

_“Muggle superheroes. Not important. The point is that you've got an older brother and two friends as well now. The three of us are going to be there for you. So there's no need for you to worry at all.”_

_“You and Albus want to be friends with me?”_ Even in James's head, Phoenix sounded surprised.

_“Of course, dummy! You're super cool! Do you know how long I've waited to meet someone else who I could actually relate to? Someone who was also as born Legilimens? I've got tonnes of 'friends' at Hogwarts, but none of them are actually good friendships y'know? Like, they're only friends with me because they want to be friends with 'famous Harry Potter's cool son who's good at Quidditch', they're not friends with me because of ME. Does that make sense?”_

“Yeah, it makes sense. But it sucks, though. I'm sorry.” Phoenix switched back to speaking aloud.

“Don’t be. I never really needed any friends, I've got my family. I mean, I like being popular, don't get me wrong. I like being admired, but I don't really care if they like me or not.”

“Okay. I guess that makes sense...” Said Phoenix, though he looked confused.

“My point is, I've got all these 'fake friends' at school that I don't even really like. It'll be nice to have you there. You know, an actual friend that I get along with. And Albus and Scorpius. It's like the four of us are all on one team, in a way. Like our own little group.”

“That sounds nice.” Phoenix smiled, blushing a little bit.

“My dad told me and Albus this story once. His dad, my granddad, had these three friends. They were like a four-person gang, such a close friendship group. Anyway, they called themselves 'The Marauders' and they all had these nicknames based on what animals they turned into, because one of them was a werewolf, and the other three were Animagi.” James smiled, trying to imagine it in his head.

“That sounds like fun.” Phoenix smiled, looking at him.

“Yeah. They were Mooney (the werewolf), Wormtail (he transformed into a rat), Padfoot (he turned into this really big dog), and Prongs, who was my granddad (he transformed into a stag). They used to hang out with Mooney on full moons when he was a werewolf (in animal form so it was safe) and they used to go on all these cool adventures and go exploring all over Hogwarts and the grounds and stuff. They even made this cool map that shows everyone that's in the Hogwarts grounds on it, and all the secret passages and things like that. Very useful for sneaking around, I'll tell you that.”

“Wow.” Phoenix said, his voice full of awe. “We should definitely do that!”

“Which part?” James laughed.

“All of it!” Phoenix squealed excitedly.

“Well, I've got my granddad's old invisibility cloak, and Albus has The Marauders' Map. So yeah, I guess we could take you exploring.” James said thoughtfully. Phoenix beamed at him.

“Really?! Thanks, Freckles!”

James blushed at the nickname, though both he and Pip knew that he actually liked it. Morpheus changed colour to a rosy red colour, and hissed at James quietly before looking at Phoenix, obviously wanting him to translate.

“Morpheus says that that's the colour your cheeks are at the moment. And—”

Morpheus hissed crossly at Phoenix and tilted his scaly head at James. Was Phoenix not telling him everything that the snake had said?

“I'm not telling him that, you tiresome reptile. Now pipe down.”

James tilted his head curiously at Phoenix.

“Ooooooh, come on, Pip! Don't be like that! Just tell me what he said!” James pressed lightly, grinning broadly.

“NO.”

“Pleeeeeeeeeaaaassssssse?” James whined theatrically, hugging Phoenix's arm to him. “Pretty please? With a cherry on top?” He pouted, putting on the puppy eyes.

Phoenix sighed.

“UGH! Fine! He said that he thinks we're cute.”

“Really? That's not so bad.” James said nonchalantly, though his insides were jumping round like he'd eaten a whole bag of Fizzing Whizbees. He tried to push the thought from his mind, but it refused to leave. It was as if someone had had Drooble's Best Blowing Gum; the thought had formed a little bubble at the back of his mind that refused to pop.  
Soon after that, Mr Malfoy came upstairs and said that it was time for them to be getting back. James pressed the NEWT Charms book into Phoenix's hands.

“No, I insist. Borrow it, and just give it back to me once you've read it. I won't need it, I've already finished my holiday homework.”

“Thanks, Freckles.” Phoenix said, walking out the front door and into the street, where Scorpius, Mr Malfoy, and James’s dad were waiting for him.

“No worries, Pip!” James called loudly after him. Neither James or Phoenix caught the significant glances that everyone else was exchanging behind their backs.

“See you when I see you, guys!” Phoenix called.

“Can we owl you?!” James called back.

“Yeah, of course. You know the address, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay. Bye, everyone!” Phoenix waved and then joined hands with the others, who then all vanished on the spot, disapparrating from Grimmauld Place.


	5. Chapter 5

“Good morning, boys.”

“Hey, dad.”

Scorpius and Phoenix sat down opposite each other at the breakfast table. Phoenix immediately reached for two shiny green apples, which the house elves had freshly picked from the orchard that morning. It had been a few days since dinner with the Potter family, and Phoenix was settling in to Malfoy Manor well.

“What is it with you and apples?” Scorpius frowned as he himself reached for a croissant and began thickly buttering it.

Phoenix shrugged noncommittally.

“We, um... we didn't often get things like apples and pears at St Helga's, they were a special treat and even then, they were never that great, they were all mushy and powdery; nothing like these. These are really nice and crisp and sweet, and—”

Phoenix was interrupted by a squawk and a tapping noise on the window. Scorpius got up to open the window for Harry Hootini while Phoenix and their dad chatted about all the different fruits that grew on the estate. Scorpius gave the owl an affectionate pat before he untied the letter from the owl's leg and watched it fly off.

“It’s addressed to you, Fen.” Scorpius said, sitting down and sliding the letter across the table to his brother. Phoenix grabbed it immediately, smiling excitedly.

“Wow, really?! Someone actually sent me a letter! My _first_ letter!” Phoenix fumbled with the envelope, struggling to open it with just one hand. He growled in frustration, getting more and more annoyed with himself.

“Hey, hey, son, calm down. Don't get so frustrated with yourself, it's okay.” Draco said soothingly, stopping Phoenix's hand with his. “Do you want me to open it for you?”

Phoenix clenched his jaw and looked down at his lap, nodding mutely.

Draco calmly plucked the letter out of Phoenix's hand and broke the red wax seal on the envelope, handing the open envelope back to Phoenix, who cheered up considerably as he read the letter.

“It’s from James Potter.” Phoenix said, smiling to himself and blushing.

“Oh yeah?” Scorpius said, raising his eyebrow and smirking. “What does it say?”

“He wants to know if I want to hang out today. Is that okay, Papa? We can stay here, or he suggested we could go shopping in Diagon Alley?”

“If you want to, that's fine, Phoenix. Just be safe, stick with James, and make sure you're back for dinner, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks Papa!” Phoenix grabbed his wand and cast his patronus. The silvery blue kitten soared out of the window once Phoenix had given him the message to James, saying that he'd love to join him.

Phoenix jumped out of his seat and dragged Scorpius back to his room by his arm.

“Come on, you. You need to help me get ready. _Now_.”

*****

Back in Phoenix's room, Phoenix was sat cross-legged on his bed stroking Morpheus while Scorpius rifled through his wardrobe.

“Soooo... You seem awfully eager to impress James...” Scorpius remarked casually.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Phoenix deflected stoutly.

“I think you do, Fen. You were practically grinning when you read his letter; now I'm helping to pick out an outfit for you.”

“Oh shut up.”

“You’re just proving my point, little bro. So... _James, huh_?” Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows at Phoenix, who threw a pillow at his face in retaliation.

“Stop it, Scorp. I mean, even if I wanted there to be something between me and him, and I'm _not_ saying I do, I barely know the guy; I only met him a few days ago. And then there's the age difference; he’s seventeen, and I'm fourteen.”

“So what? This is just a chance for you to get to know each other better. If it turns out it's best for you two to be just friends, then there's no harm done, you still got to hang out with your friend and have fun today. And if there's a spark, then it could be the start of something special; just don't put any pressure on yourself, just relax and enjoy yourself today. Plus, the age difference really isn’t a big deal. It's what, two and a bit years? That's not much, the same as dad and my mum, in fact. And plus, you're going to be fifteen in like, two weeks.”

“Ten days. Six days after yours. Fourth of August.”

“You excited?”

“I guess so.” Phoenix shrugged. “Never really had a cause to celebrate it before.”

An awkward silence settled over the room.

“Okay. It's pretty cold outside, so this is an opportunity for you to wear your new casual cloak.” Scorpius laid the plum-coloured cloak on the bed. “And it would look really nice with this black knitted turtleneck jumper. Put that with some lighter coloured jeans, your new black shoes... Bam! There you go! Trust me, this’ll look great!”

Ten minutes later, Binkley was pinning one side of Phoenix's hair up so it all fell down his right shoulder, hiding the scarred half of his face as Phoenix slipped on his shiny new black dragon-skin boots.

“Here you go, Master Phoenix. How is this looking?” Binkley held up a mirror for Phoenix to see his hair.

“It looks wonderful, Binkley. Thank you. Could you please pass me my money pouch? And my Gringotts key? I just want to stop by the bank and grab some more money before I start spending it all.”

Just then, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Phoenix turned to see James leaning casually against the doorframe, wrapped up warm in a charcoal grey cloak and his Gryffindor scarf.

“Hey Pipsqueak. You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I think so. How did you get here?”

“I came here by Floo powder so that I could apparate us to Diagon Alley. I've got my license, so I'll take you by side-along apparition. We just have to be outside the Malfoy grounds before I can apparate us, because of the protective wards. Only a Malfoy can apparate directly in and out of the grounds.”

“Okay.” Phoenix mumbled, still a little embarrassed.

They stopped by the drawing room to let Draco and Narcissa know they were leaving, before they exited the manor and made the short walk out of the wrought-iron gates that marked the boundary to the Malfoy property.

“You ready?” James asked, holding out an arm for Phoenix to take.

“Such a gentleman, Freckles.” Phoenix teased, linking his arm with James's. “Let’s do this.”

James cleared his throat and looked away before turning on the spot and disapparating.

*****

James dutifully accompanied Phoenix to Gringotts and waited while he filled his money bag with gold, silver, and bronze coins. Conversation and friendly banter flowed as easily as water between the two of them as they stepped out of the bank and onto the chilly street.

“It still feels super weird having all this gold in my pocket. Like, it feels kind of uncomfortable spending it. Does that make sense?” Phoenix turned his gaze from the jingling money pouch to James who had stopped to face him and was considering him thoughtfully.

“Yeah. I think it does. I guess it must be a bit of a culture shock going from having nothing to having so much.”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Don't worry, though,” James said, grinning at him. “We can use today as an opportunity to acclimatise you to the joys of spending lots and lots of money. Practice makes perfect.”

Phoenix laughed and let James drag him into a nearby shop.

Around midday, James and Phoenix stopped by a small café, and enjoyed two steaming hot tankards of foaming butterbeer and a slice of pie. James chuckled at Phoenix's incredulous face when he tried his first sip.

“So.” James set his empty tankard down on the table between them. “I need to buy something for Scorpius's birthday.”

“Me too. You've known Scorpius longer than I have; have you got any helpful ideas?” Phoenix frowned.

“Yeah, come with me. We'll try Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.”

*****

Phoenix returned home that evening with a much lighter money bag and several other bags filled with various things that he'd purchased. James had stubbornly waved down all of his protests when he’d seen him struggling and had helped him carry his bags, despite having a few of his own to carry as well.

Phoenix walked James back to the living room so that he could take the Floo network back to Grimmauld Place.

“Thank you for today, James. I had a really lovely time.” Phoenix said earnestly, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Yeah. Me too.” James replied, smiling. He opened his mouth as though he were about to say something else, but then closed it again.

“I’ll see you on Scorpius's birthday, right?”

“Yeah. Albus and me are coming over to play Quidditch on your Quidditch pitch.”

“Great! I'll see you then.” Phoenix said, wrapping James in a quick hug. James hesitated for a second before wrapping his arms around Phoenix and patting him on the back.

“By the way, you looked really nice today, Pipsqueak.” James said with a wink; and before Phoenix could process his words or respond in any way, James had disappeared with his shopping in a burst of green flames from the fireplace.

“Well, that was entertaining to watch, I've got to say.”

Phoenix turned around to see Scorpius looking up from an essay he was writing at a table by the window.

“Are you spying on me now?” Phoenix huffed indignantly.

“Oh please. I was already in here minding my business, doing my History of Magic essay for homework. You two were the ones that came in here and interrupted; you were so busy staring into each other's eyes that you didn't even see me here.” Scorpius smirked gleefully.

Phoenix groaned.

“Okay, fine! James is awesome and I think I fancy him. Happy?” Phoenix said grumpily, sitting heavily down in the chair next to Scorpius and letting his head fall onto the table.

“Oh, don't be like that. This isn't a disaster. I saw the way he was looking at you; trust me, you two will be together by Christmas.” Scorpius said dismissively, turning back to his essay.

*****

James marched into Albus's bedroom without knocking and flopped dramatically back against the closed door as soon as he got back from Malfoy Manor.

“Holy Hufflepuff, Al. I have a problem.”

Albus didn’t say anything, but carefully marked his place in the book he was reading before gesturing for James to take a seat on the bed.

“I take it this is about Phoenix?” Albus inquired, raising an eyebrow. James nodded glumly.

“Yes.”

“And you're struggling with how to deal with having feelings for him?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Al said, nodding to himself. “Okay. Have you considered just having a mature conversation about it with him?”

James gave his younger brother a withering look.

“Okay, so that's not helpful. Sorry.” Albus said, running a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I think you should go for it, if you really fancy him. Might make a nice change of pace, after all those painted harpies that usually attract your attention.”

“I just... never mind. It's stupid.” James said, moving to get up and leave. Albus grabbed his older brother's sleeve and yanked him back down onto the bed.

“No. Tell me what the matter is, Jay.”

“I’m fucking _jealous_ is what the matter is! I want what you and Scorpius have!” James blurted out in one breath, punching the wall in anger.

Albus stayed quiet and let James calm himself down before he spoke in a quiet voice.

“You’re lonely.” Albus realised, sympathy hitting him like a punch to the gut.

“Well it sounds pathetic when you say it like that, Al!” James got up and started pacing agitatedly around the room while Albus watched him in dismay. “Come on, though, you've seen what all those girls were like! They just wanted 'famous Harry Potter's son’; they wanted me as a conquest, a – a fucking _trophy_ , and then they ditched me without a backwards glance! And I – I can't go through that again, Albus... It hurts too much.” James stopped his pacing and hung his head as he sniffed sadly.

Albus got up and pulled his brother into a fierce hug.

“I know. It hurts and it sucks. And it's super scary as well, putting yourself out there like that. But take it from me, it is so worth it afterwards. If it scares you this much, that's how you know that it could be worth it.”

James stepped back and wiped his eyes discreetly.

“I need to go and think for a bit. Can you tell mum that I'm not hungry?”

“Sure.” Albus said kindly. “I’ll bring you up a cup of tea if you want.”

James nodded and left, his shoulders still a bit slumped.

As soon as Albus was back in his room after dinner (during which he had to evade questions as to whether James was okay), he grabbed a quill, ink, and a roll of parchment and scribbled a letter to Scorpius.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_Okay, this is weird. James has been an emotional mess ever since he got back from Diagon Alley. I'm meant to be the anxious neurotic one out of the two of us, not him! I don't like it, he’s hurting._

_You and me both know that James and Phoenix fancy each other, but they’re both too oblivious and scared to do anything about it, so it's going to be up to us to get them together before they make themselves miserable. You got any ideas? Let me know if that big brain of yours comes up with anything._

_I love you and I'll see you on your birthday,_

_Albus xxx_

*****

The sun was shining brightly on the morning of Scorpius's birthday, but Scorpius only buried himself deeper in his cosy blankets and sighed in a relaxed sort of manner before he was very rudely awoken.

A loud noise went off like a foghorn in front of his face, and he screamed in surprise, falling haphazardly out of his bed. Scorpius calmed down enough to take in the sight of James, Albus, and Phoenix all howling with laughter, each of them clutching large purple party blowers.

“Was that really necessary?” Scorpius huffed indignantly as he clutched his chest.

“Absolutely. We wanted you up before midday. Happy Birthday. Bon anniversaire. Feliz cumpleaños, and all that jazz.” Phoenix said, bouncing off the bed. “Now, come on. You have presents to open.”

Albus handed Scorpius a mug.

“Here. Coffee. Drink.” Albus said.

“Aw, you know me so well.” Scorpius preened and gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips as he wrapped his fingers around the mug.  
Scorpius looked past Albus and saw James averting his eyes and scowling as he plucked idly at a loose thread on Scorpius's blanket. Scorpius and Albus looked from James sitting morosely on the bed, to Phoenix not-so-subtly sneaking glances at James from across the room.

“Oh my god, we need to fix this.” Albus whispered in Scorpius's ear.

“Agreed. But first, I'm going to open my birthday presents.”

As was time-honoured tradition on Scorpius's birthday, presents were opened in the drawing room, by the fireplace, where they would also enjoy tea and birthday cake.

Albus nervously handed Scorpius a carefully wrapped present with a silver bow, which Scorpius delicately opened to reveal a beautifully framed wizard photo that showed Albus and him laughing and embracing as they sat by the lake at Hogwarts. Scorpius flung his arms around Albus in thanks. All that bad business with the Time Turner, Scorpius had been so terrified when he'd come out of the lake and Albus had disappeared; the lake had soon become their special spot.

James had given Scorpius a mahogany wizard's chess set. He confessed that he'd found it in this nice little shop in Diagon Alley when he'd gone shopping with Phoenix. The two of them shared a grin (which did not get missed by Albus and Scorpius).

Phoenix grumbled something about not being sure what Scorpius would like, but passed him two packages; one of which was a huge box of Pepper Imps (Scorpius's favourites), the other being a deluxe-sized Skiving Snackbox from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Scorpius assured his brother that they were awesome presents, which seemed to mollify Phoenix, if only a little bit.

Scorpius's dad and grandmother shooed the boys out of the manor house to go and play outside; it _was_ a beautiful day, after all.

“Hey, how about we go flying? James and I brought our broomsticks with us. It's tradition, after all.” Albus suggested brightly as they stepped outside.

“Sounds good. I’ll have one of the house elves fetch them.” Scorpius said.

Phoenix fiddled with the hem of his jumper.

“Okay, I guess I'll just watch from here.” Phoenix put on a cheery smile that looked slightly forced.

“Don’t you want to join us?” Albus said.

Phoenix hesitated, but then continued.

“Yes, of course I do, Albus. But I've never flown before. And even if I had, it's not like I'll be any use in a Quidditch match if the only arm I have is having to hold onto a broomstick.” Phoenix shrugged casually. “Honestly, it's fine, I promise.”

Scorpius shot Albus a look, who nodded and gave James a hard nudge in the ribs. James jumped and scowled at Albus and Scorpius, who nodded their heads towards Phoenix encouragingly.

“Oh! Yeah! Um, okay. Sure. Hey, Pipsqueak? Why don't you just share with me? My broom will fit both of us on it. It can be you and me against our brothers.” James stuttered, flushing bright crimson.

“O-okay.” Phoenix smiled shyly in response.

Albus shot Scorpius a thumbs-up when the other two weren't looking.

Flying that afternoon had actually turned out to be very fun. James had Phoenix sat in front of him on his broomstick, and James would be lying through his teeth if he said it hadn't been nice to be able to lean over Phoenix as he held the broom. It also hadn't hurt that they'd still managed to thrash Albus and Scorpius in their friendly Quidditch match, as they'd been too busy whispering to each other about something half the time.

*****

The night before his birthday, Phoenix didn't sleep well at all. He sat awake in one of his bay windows and looked out over the grounds. He was wrapped up in a soft fluffy blanket and was trying in vain to read by moonlight, but his heart wasn't in it at all.

He couldn't really say what he was feeling or why he was feeling it, he just knew that something felt... off. He knew he should be excited; tomorrow would be his fifteenth birthday. It would be the first birthday that he'd ever actually celebrated, and he would be spending it with his amazing new adoptive family, and his wonderful new friends, finally free of the orphanage that had never accepted him. But despite all of these reasons, he couldn't help feeling nervous; waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was headed into unknown territory.

He was jerked out of his reverie by Morpheus (grown to the size of a Basilisk) tapping his head on the outside of the balcony windows. Phoenix jumped to his feet and opened the balcony doors so that Morpheus could slither into the room.

 _“Much obliged.”_ Morpheus thanked him as he shrunk down to his regular size.

_“You’re welcome. What were you doing outside at this time of night?”_

_“Hunting. Apparently Malfoy Manor has quite a few wild mice in the gardens. And the lake here has loads of fish that, in my opinion, have been left to their own devices for far too long. But why are you still awake? I would have thought you'd want to be rested and energised for your birthday tomorrow.”_

_“I tried, but I can't sleep. I guess I'm kind of worried about tomorrow. I mean, it's just that I've never had a birthday that I've actually been allowed to celebrate before, I just don't know what to expect.”_ Phoenix shrugged and flopped down onto his bed.

_“That's understandable, I guess. You're nervous. But having a family is all you've ever wanted, so don't let yourself freak out too much. Just try to get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning.”_

_“I hope so.”_ Phoenix sighed as he pulled the blankets over himself in drifted into a restless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix's fifteenth birthday is here! But having never celebrated it before, he doesn't know what to expect; will his family and friends be able to make this one of the best days of his life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for panic attacks, and discussion of anxiety in this chapter. Stay safe, and enjoy the chapter.
> 
> As always, please leave kudos and comments! It makes my day to hear what you guys think of my stories!
> 
> T xx

When Scorpius and his dad eased open Phoenix's bedroom door the next morning, they saw him already sitting up in bed, hugging his knees and staring out the window deep in thought, though he smiled broadly at them when he saw them.

“Happy birthday, champ.” Their father smiled at Phoenix and gave him a one-armed hug.

“Thanks dad.”

“Yeah, happy birthday, Fen! Come on, James and Albus are going to be here soon, and we've got hot chocolate ready for you in the drawing room, complete with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles, and an _outrageous_ number of mini-marshmallows.” The hot chocolate had been Scorpius's idea, and he wouldn't let anyone forget it.

“Okay, that sounds amazing. Just give me a minute to take a shower, get dressed, and make myself presentable. I'll meet you guys there.”

“Excellent. There's a pile of birthday presents waiting for you.”

“Wait, really? You can't be serious! I don't need any birthday presents! I've been given so much over the past couple of weeks.” Phoenix's eyes bulged as he laughed incredulously.

Their dad rolled his eyes.

“That's not the point of birthdays. Birthdays exist to celebrate an individual being brought into the world, and now we're celebrating you being brought into our lives. So stop it and let us do this for you.”

“Listen to your father, young man.” Scorpius’s grandma called as she strode past the bedroom towards the drawing room.

“Yes, Nana!” Phoenix grinned and called back, before he rushed into his bathroom to get ready.

A short while later, and Phoenix walked into the drawing room wearing a set of emerald green casual wizard's robes, his hair pulled up into a messy bun with his wand stuck in it like a pencil, and Morpheus (currently a glittering bronze colour) slithering along beside him. He immediately spotted his family sitting on the comfortable sofas in the middle of the room, arranged around a large coffee table which was holding a tray of hot chocolate (exactly as decadent as advertised by his brother), and a few wrapped presents.

Phoenix gave his grandmother and father a hug before sitting down next to Scorpius, who passed him a huge mug towering with whipped cream, colourful sprinkles, and a truly astonishing amount of mini-marshmallows. Luckily, there was a straw.

“Here you go! My marvellous concoction!”

“Alternatively known as ‘diabetes in a mug’.” Their grandmother said wryly (though her disapproval was rendered somewhat hypocritical by the fact that she was sipping contentedly from her own mug). “Happy birthday, little one.”

“Thank you, Nana.” Phoenix smiled.

Just as Phoenix was taking his second mug of hot chocolate, the fireplace on the other side of the room lit up in a burst of green flames, and Albus and James stepped out of the fireplace, dusting themselves off, each of them holding a wrapped gift.

Phoenix got up from his seat to hug both of them in greeting.

“Happy birthday, Pipsqueak. I like the new robes.”

“Yeah, mate. Many happy returns and everything.”

“Thanks guys. Come sit down. There's _more_ than enough hot chocolate for everyone.”

General greetings passed around between everyone before Phoenix was ordered back to his seat and passed the first of his birthday presents.

“This one's from me.” Said Albus, handing over a fairly large box. “I know that you like to read, so I got you some of my favourite Muggle books that you won’t have read before.”

Inside the box were about ten books; ‘The Hunger Games' trilogy by Suzanne Collins, ‘Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, The ‘Percy Jackson' series by Rick Riordan, and ‘Les Misérables' by Victor Hugo.

“These are Muggle books?! That's awesome! Thanks, Al!” Phoenix beamed at Albus, who nodded his head and grinned back.

The next present was from Scorpius; two framed wizard photographs. One of them showed Phoenix, Scorpius, their grandmother, and their father all beaming out of the photo as Phoenix held up the adoption papers and birth certificate. The other photographs showed Phoenix, Scorpius, James, and Albus laughing in James's bedroom at Grimmauld Place; Albus and Scorpius were playing wizard's chess, while James and Phoenix cheered them on.

“How did you even get the second photo?” Phoenix asked Scorpius, wiping away happy tears.

“Well, the first photo was taken by one of the house elves as you know. James's and Albus's sister took the other one while none of us were looking.”

“I love it. Thank you, Scorpius.”

James passed Phoenix his next birthday present.

“I found this while we were in Diagon Alley, bought it while you were looking the other way.”

It was a small black leather satchel, with a long shoulder-strap, like a small handbag. On the front of the bag was a silver circular clasp in the shape of a snake eating its own tail. When Phoenix glided his thumb over it, the snake blinked its eye and opened its mouth, and the clasp on the bag clicked open.

“I know that you like your independence, and it bothers you when you have to ask for help, so I got my Aunt Hermione to put undetectable extension charms on the bag, so now you can carry all of your stuff without it weighing you down, and you don't have to ask for help now.” James have Phoenix a lop-sided smile.

“James – thank you. This is – this is really thoughtful of you. I love it.” Phoenix got up from his seat and gave James a one-armed hug, eyes brimming with emotion.

“Happy birthday, Pipsqueak.” James’s said softly into Phoenix's hair.

There was just one present left that Phoenix could see, a small black velvet box with a silver bow on it.

“Ah,” Phoenix's father cleared his throat, “This is your present from your grandmother and myself, well, part of it anyway.”

Phoenix opened the box to reveal a white gold ring with a large shining opal set in the centre. Overlaying the opal was a design in the same white gold as the main body of the ring.

“That is the Malfoy family crest.” Nana said in a carefully measured voice.

“And that,” Phoenix's father said, his eyes gazing fixedly down at the ring, “that was my father’s ring.”

“It was?” Phoenix looked up, surprised.

“Yes. He... He was not a good man when he was part of our lives. He was hateful, prejudiced, cowardly, and evil, and my mother and I agree that we are very lucky that he was locked up long before he had a chance to corrupt Scorpius.”

Phoenix looked at his grandmother, who gave a terse, though very sincere, nod.

“I say this, not to distress you, but merely to inform you. My father committed many unspeakable atrocities whilst wearing this ring, but I pass it to you now, in the hopes that this ring will gain a new legacy as it graces the hand of a new wearer; a new beginning. Every Malfoy man is given one of these.” Phoenix's father, as well as Scorpius, held up their right hands to show Phoenix, where, sure enough, each of them had a ring identical to the one Phoenix was holding in the black box.

“Thank you, Papa. Would you..?” Phoenix held the box out to his father.

“Of course, son.” He took the ring from his son's hold and slid it carefully onto Phoenix's middle finger.

“It suits you very well, my child.” Phoenix's grandmother smiled. “But come now, we must show you the other part of your birthday present.”

Narcissa Malfoy stood gracefully, smoothing out the folds of her robes. The rest of the present company also rose from their seats and followed her. Phoenix followed his grandmother, shooting a look of confusion at his father and brother, who grinned, but said nothing. His grandmother only stopped when they reached a vast hallway, which Phoenix knew led to the lounge.

“This hallway used to be lined with portraits from end to end, portraits of generations of Malfoy men and women. Sadly, a great many of those men and women were dark wizards and witches, and their portraits have long been removed and destroyed. Now, there are much fewer paintings along this wall, but all of them are noble, good people from both the Malfoy and Black lineages. Here, for example, is my niece. She was an Auror, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix in the Second Wizarding war, during which she was sadly killed; Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin."

Phoenix looked up at the portrait, which showed a woman with bubblegum-pink hair grinning and waving down at them.

“Wotcher, everyone.” She grinned.

“Is that...”

“That's Teddy's mum.”

“Yes, Albus. Nymphadora Tonks married Remus Lupin, and they died in the Battle of Hogwarts, not long after their son, Theodore Lupin, was born.”

“That's... that's so sad.” Phoenix whispered.

“It is.” His grandmother agreed. “After the Second Wizarding War, and my husband Lucius was locked away, I was able to make amends with my sister, Andromeda. Her portrait hangs just over there. Years of bad blood were, albeit slowly, forgiven. My great-nephew's portrait hangs next to his mother's, you'll see.”

A young man with a mischievous grin and turquoise hair winked down at them and gave them a salute.

“That’s... wow. I don't really know what to say. But why are you showing me this, Nana?”

“Because as we look towards the future, it never hurts to let our gaze flit occasionally back to the past so that we do not make the same mistakes as our predecessors. It is good to know one's family history. But alas, this is not the reason we are here right now.”

Phoenix felt his grandmother’s hand on his shoulder as she guided him down the hallway to where the most recent portraits were hung; there was Phoenix's and Scorpius's father, a beautiful dark-haired lady who could only be Scorpius's mum in the portrait next to their father's. Next in line was Scorpius's portrait, and next to that...

“That's... me.” Phoenix whispered in a small voice.

Phoenix gazed upon at his portrait in wonder. He had been painted in his midnight blue dress robes, sat in a high-backed armchair, and Morpheus was curled over the back of the armchair, his head being stroked by the portrait-Phoenix.

“We had the painting commissioned the moment the adoption papers came through.” Phoenix heard his father say as he watched painting-Phoenix get up and dash into the adjacent painting and high-five painting-Scorpius.

“It looks amazing.” James said appreciatively.

“It... does.” Phoenix smiled, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “Thank you. Truly.”

“This is a lot to take in, I know.” His father patted him on the shoulder. “But there is actually one more thing that you need to see.”

Phoenix watched with nervous anticipation as his father reached a hand into his robes and withdrew an envelope before handing it to him. Phoenix read the address on the front of it, written in emerald-green ink.

_Mr. P. Malfoy_  
_Malfoy Manor_  
_Malfoy Estate_  
_Wiltshire_  
_England_

Phoenix didn't dare to hope that this was what he thought it could be. He used his thumb to break the purple was seal, and removed three pieces of parchment from the envelope. He flipped open the first piece of parchment with a trembling hand, and read.

 

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF_  
_WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall (Order of Merlin, First Class)_

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_  
_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._  
_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor Neville Longbottom_  
_Deputy Headmaster, Head of Gryffindor House_

 

Phoenix dropped the letter as he raised his trembling hand to cover his mouth, his eyes brimming with tears.

“On my... Merlin's beard... Am I – is this – oh my god.” And he burst into tears.

His father chuckled as he wrapped him in a hug.

“You're going to school, Phoenix. You're going to Hogwarts.”

Cheers, laughs, and clapping erupted from around him as Phoenix wiped his eyes and looked up to see not only his family, but also James, Albus, and all the portraits on the walls clapping and cheering together.

Phoenix let out a wet laugh and picked the letter up, before a ball of dread settled in his stomach and the happy feeling was extinguished.

“It... it says 'we await your owl no later than 31 July'...” Phoenix muttered solemnly.

“Oh, don't worry about that, Phoenix. I wrote to Professor McGonagall and Professor Longbottom myself a week or so ago. They're coming here in a couple of days to meet you, so we can iron out all the details. Don't worry.”

Phoenix let out a sigh of relief, and nodded. He looked at the other two pieces of parchment, one of which was the Hogsmeade permission form, the other of which was the equipment list.

_“Congratulations, Pip. I'm so happy for you.”_

Phoenix jumped slightly as James's voice sounded inside his head, though nobody noticed.

_“Thanks, Freckles.”_

*****

A wonderful, light summer lunch was served later that morning, including some Phoenix's favourites that he had discovered since being adopted; lemon and chilli infused salmon fillets, potato salad, pasta salad, green salad, it was amazing.

After lunch, Scorpius and Albus snuck off alone (presumably to snog without an audience), leaving James and Phoenix to their own devices. They ended up hanging out in Phoenix's bedroom, chatting, eating chocolate birthday cake, and playing exploding snap on the balcony.

They were interrupted by Binkley.

“Binkley is bringing Master's birthday gifts up to his bedroom, sir.”

“Thank you, Binkley.”

Binkley fidgeted with the hem of his pillowcase.

“Binkley would like to be wishing Master a happy birthday, sir, and is hoping that Master Phoenix is having a nice day.”

“Thank you, Binkley, that's very kind of you.” Phoenix said, sincerely. “While you're here, if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to bring us a pitcher of iced pumpkin juice and a couple of glasses, please?”

“And an empty butterbeer bottle filled with water, please.” James added.

Phoenix and Binkley looked at James in confusion, before Phoenix nodded at Binkley, who promptly disappeared.

“Why the bottle of water?” Phoenix asked as soon as Binkley had disappeared, but James didn't answer him. He simply got up from his chair and was followed by Phoenix back into the bedroom.

Phoenix watched as James picked up the bag that he’d given Phoenix and walked back over, opening it as he did so.

“In here.” James held out the bag. “I got you another small present. It’s nothing very extravagant or anything, I just didn't want to give it to you with everyone watching.”

James held the bag open for Phoenix to put his hand in, which he did, pulling out a flower.

It was a rose; a beautiful canary-yellow colour, with ruby-red tips on the petals.

“How is it still alive? It wasn't in water or anything.”

“That there is an ever-blooming rose. I bought it in a Muggle florist, and put a few preservation charms and a couple of vibrancy spells on it. Tricky little bit of magic, but worth it, I think. That rose won't die, or wilt, and the petals won't fall off. It can survive a little bit of time out of water, but it does do best when it is in water, which is—”

“Which is why you wanted the bottle of water.” Phoenix realised. “Thank you, James. It's beautiful.”

“Good. I just thought that it was really pretty and that you might... I'm uh - I'm glad you like it.” James said, blushing. “And I'm glad you like the bag too. I figured it would make it much easier for you when you're at Hogwarts, carrying all your stuff around, and if you go shopping or something. I figured it'll even make things easier for you getting to Hogwarts in the first place, because theoretically, you could put your entire Hogwarts trunk, _and_ Morpheus's basket in there.”

“Oh my, I didn't even _think_ of that! That's amazing! You're the best, Jay!”

“And don't you forget it.” James grinned, high-fiving Phoenix.

“I still can't believe that this is actually happening. I actually get to go to Hogwarts now! _But I'll be going straight into fifth year, right into O.W.L’s year. Oh, Merlin, I'm going to be so behind! I’ll already be four stinking years behind everyone else in fifth year! Oh my god, I'm getting a headache_. Oh... oh shit. I can't bre – I can't breathe, Jay.” Phoenix was hyperventilating, and his speech had gone from speaking English aloud, to frantic legilimency, and back again as he attempted (however futilely) to suck air into his lungs.

 _“Okay, you need to calm down. There's plenty of time for you to get prepared. And Scorpius, Albus, and me can all help you. There's all of Scorpius's old textbooks, and you know he's the sort of guy who takes a LOT of notes and stuff; you've got our notes and essays for reference. Plus, don't forget about all the holiday homework you did for the kids at St Helga’s! That's going to be massively helpful; I doubt you'll even have that much to catch up on, honestly.”_ James sat a panicking and hyperventilating Phoenix down on the chaise longue and knelt down in front of him, but Phoenix wasn't calming down. “Phoenix... Phoenix! PHOENIX! You need to breathe, okay? Breathe for me, Pipsqueak, I'm right here with you. In for four, hold for four, out for three - that's it. Okay, you're doing really well, Pipsqueak, just like that. It's okay. You're okay.”

Gradually... Very gradually, Phoenix was taking shaky, but consistent breaths, with James telling him to inhale and exhale. Phoenix looked down and saw that he had James's hand in a vice-like death grip. He hurriedly let go, and mumbled an apology. James got up and poured Phoenix a goblet of iced pumpkin juice.

“Here, drink all of this. Take small sips, though.”

Phoenix nodded and took hold of the crystal goblet.

“I'm so embarrassed. I don't even know what happened there.”

“Don’t be embarrassed.” James cut in sternly. “Has something like that ever happened before, Pip?”

Phoenix nodded.

“Yeah, sometimes. It's been getting more frequent recently, though. I don't know what is happening to me. I must be going crazy or something.”

“You’re not going crazy.” James said firmly. “What just happened is you had a panic attack, and a nasty one at that. They’re more common than you think in people with mental illnesses like anxiety a—”

“Mental illnesses? So I _am_ going crazy.”

“NO you’re not. Mental illness affects a quarter of all the people in the world; it's really common, but people just don't like talking about it. You're feeling a lot of stress about going to Hogwarts for the first time, which is totally understandable, and my guess is that it all just sort of built up and burst out at once.”

“How do you know so much about this stuff?”

“Albus gets panic attacks as well. I help him with them when I can.”

“This happens to Al? That’s awful.”

“It is unpleasant, I agree. But there are ways you can deal with anxiety. I mean, if this is a problem that happens quite a lot, it might be a good idea to talk to a healer about it.”

“A healer? So it can be cured? I can get rid of it?”

James smiled sadly and sighed.

“It's not that easy, Pip. Sometimes, therapy and maybe anti-anxiety potions can help; and sometimes you can get past it completely, but it is an ongoing problem, there's no quick fix for it.”

“But it still might be a good idea to talk to my dad about it? I always get really had headaches after, and when I get headaches, my legilimency goes completely savage like – I can't control it sometimes.” Phoenix looked James in the eye. He could still feel his hand shaking, and he was getting a migraine now.

“Definitely. No good ever came from bottling things up. And hey,” James said, using the corner of his sleeve to wipe the dampness of the stale tears from Phoenix's cheeks, “if you ever need to talk to someone about this sort of thing, and you're scared of doing it, just come talk to me. I’m not that scary, am I?” James winked and pulled a funny face, making Phoenix snort with laughter.

“Thanks, Freckles.” Phoenix leaned forward and gave James a quick hug. As he pulled back, he gave James a quick kiss on the cheek. He didn't know what possessed him to do it, it just happened.

“No problem. I'm here for you.” James smiled fondly at him, and Phoenix felt a tingly warmth in the pit of his stomach as he looked into James's bottomless brown eyes, like beautiful pools of melted chocolate.

“Stop thinking so loud.” James teased him.

“What? Oh shit, I’m sorry, Jay. I told you my legilimency would be all mes—”

“No, no. It's a Muggle saying. Looked like you were pretty deep in thought there, buddy. Sickle for your thoughts?”

“I was just thinking... nothing bad; but I was wondering what animagus form you'd take. And your eyes, would they be different? Mine aren't, but sometimes eye colour does differentiate in transformation.”

James sense to think on the matter for a moment. He got up and sat next to Phoenix on the chaise longue.

“I don't know, actually. Never really thought about it. Come to think about it, I don't even know what my patronus would be; I've never had to cast one. They're tricky to do for plenty of full-grown wizards; they're not even on the N.E.W.T Charms or Defence Against the Dark Arts syllabus, and luckily, I've never encountered a dementor.”

They had fun for the next hour or so coming up with increasingly ridiculous possibilities for what animal James would turn into it he were an animagus, up until James and Albus decided that they should be heading home.

In the lounge, by the empty fireplace, Scorpius and Phoenix said goodbye to James and Albus before they took the Floo network home.

“Thanks for coming over today, guys, it was great to see you.”

“Of course, mate. Happy birthday. Let me know what you think of those books, yeah?”

“Definitely.”

James enveloped Phoenix in a tight hug.

“Bye, Pipsqueak. Happy birthday. _Remember what we talked about_.” James said, switching to legilimency to stop them being overheard. _“I'm always there for you if you need me. But you should talk to your dad, you know he's got your best interests at heart.”_

_“Okay. I'll talk to him tomorrow.”_

_“Good. You can always owl me if you need me. Or send me another patronus message. I'm going to try and learn to conjure a patronus; partly so we have quicker ways to talk, partly because I'm just curious. Anyway, I'll see you soon, okay?”_

James hesitated before releasing Phoenix from the hug, ignoring the looks he was getting from the others, before he took the Floo network back to Grimmauld Place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few notes for those who want to read them.
> 
> 1) The Muggle books that Albus gives Phoenix for his birthday are all stories that I know and love from my own childhood. Ordinarily, Harry Potter would of course be at the top of the list, butI could hardly put them down in a fic that's part of the same universe!
> 
> 2) Let me know what you think of the portrait gallery at Malfoy Manor. I thought it was a really nice idea that Narcissa reconciled with Andromeda after the war finished and put hers, Tonks's, and Teddy's portraits in the Manor gallery, but I always like to have friendly discussions about things like this. :-)
> 
> 3) The ever-blooming rose. The yellow colour with red tips of the petals apparently symbolise friendship/falling in love, which I thought was really cute.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius has some news that he forgot to share, our four favourite young wizards go back-to-school shopping in Diagon Alley, and Phoenix and his father meet with Professor McGonagall and Professor Longbottom to iron out the details of Phoenix's arrival at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys, gals, and non-binary pals enjoy this chapter. Please leave comments and kudos!!!  
> Trigger warning for discussion of panic attacks and anxiety. Stay safe people.
> 
> T xxx

The first sound to reach Phoenix's ears when he walked into his bedroom after his birthday dinner later that evening was his angry hissing and terrified squawking. He opened the door to find Morpheus coiled protectively up on the bed, hissing aggressively at an owl, who was flapping its wings in terror and screeching in fright, with a letter tied to its leg.

“What's going on in here?!” Phoenix demanded, quickly shutting the door behind him.

_“This... this THING showed up a few minutes ago and flew in through the window. Owls are snake-killers; get rid of it.”_

_“What did I tell you about owls, Morpheus?”_ Phoenix scolded.

_“That I'm not allowed to eat them, in case they're somebody's pet and they're delivering mail. And I HAVEN'T eaten the wretched creature, so kindly get it away from me.”_

“I think that that’s James’s owl; I wonder what the letter's about, I saw James not even four hours ago.” Phoenix thought aloud.

_“Here's a grand idea,”_ Morpheus said grumpily, _“why don't you read it and shut that accursed owl up already? You've told me I'm not allowed to eat any owls, so make it go away before I have to break my promise.”_

_“Oh, stop being so grumpy, you.”_

_“I decline to do so.”_

Phoenix rolled his eyes and decided it was best not to argue. Instead, he beckoned the owl down to him and unfastened the letter from his leg. The owl didn't wait around, it flapped straight out of the window as fast as it physically could.

The letter was indeed from James, though the writing was significantly messier than the other letter James had sent him, as though he had written it as quickly as possible without rendering it illegible.

 

_Dear Pipsqueak,_   
_Okay, so we (Albus, Scorpius, and me) agreed not to tell you we got our Hogwarts letters until after you got given yours, just so it didn’t spoil the surprise._   
_I forgot to tell you today, because of everything that happened, it literally just slipped my mind completely, but I GOT MY O.W.L. RESULTS!_   
_I only remembered when I got home and I was kicking myself, but I just wanted to tell you. I don't know why really, I guess I'm just pretty excited about it and I wanted to share it with my friend._   
_My family's probably going Hogwarts shopping sometime next week, maybe we could meet up with your family in Diagon Alley? Let me know._   
_Love, James xx_

 

Phoenix jumped up from his armchair and ran across to Scorpius's bedroom, flying through the door without knocking. Scorpius looked up, startled, accidentally upsetting an inkwell in the process.

“Bloody banshees, Phoenix! What are you doing running in here like you've got Inferi chasing you?!” Scorpius waved his wand and the wasted ink vanished in a trice.

“You guys didn't tell me you got your Hogwarts letters already! James said he got his O.W.L results! Did you know that?” Phoenix babbled excitedly, waving James's letter at Scorpius.

“SHIT!” Scorpius gasped. He grabbed his brother's hand, dragging him out of the room and down the corridor.

“Where are we going?” Phoenix stumbled as Scorpius dragged him onwards at a breakneck speed.

“We need to find dad. Forgot... I can't _believe_ I forgot to tell him!” Scorpius panted as they ran.

They skidded into the library, causing their father to jump and look up from the manuscripts he was examining.

“Boys! What on Earth are you two doing, running around here like animals? Explain yourselves, please.” Their father looked pointedly over the top of his glasses at them.

“Sorry, dad... I forgot when... My Hogwarts letter, you see..”

“Scorpius. Slow down and start from the beginning.” Their father cut in gently.

“Okay.” Scorpius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, gathering his composure. “You know that I got my Hogwarts letter a few days ago, but Albus, James, and I all agreed not to mention them so we didn't spoil the surprise. I only remembered when James wrote to Phoenix; he got his O.W.L. results, said they were as good as he could have hoped for. Anyway, that isn't the point. When I got my letter this year, I got a Slytherin prefect's badge along with it!”

Their father stood up abruptly.

“You’ve been made a prefect?”

“Yes!” Scorpius grinned proudly at their father.

“Oh, well done, Scorpius! I'm very proud of you, son.”

Phoenix watched happily as Scorpius and their father embraced.

“I should go and tell gam-gam.”

“Agreed.” Their father said, chuckling. “I daresay you'll be in trouble enough for having waited so long to tell her.”

Scorpius paled as he sprinted out the library, leaving Phoenix alone with his father. Phoenix stood there awkwardly, wondering what he could say.

“Are you alright, Phoenix?”

“No.. I mean, uh yeah... it's umm... can we talk? Please?” Phoenix stuttered, his voice shaking slightly.

“Okay. Why don't you come and sit down with me, and I'll get the house elves to bring us some tea.”

Draco stood up and led Phoenix over to a couple of comfortable-looking armchairs on either side of a table by the window, gently pushing him down into one of them before calmly summoning a house elf for tea.

“Okay.” Draco started, settling into the other chair and luring them both a cup of herbal tea (Phoenix thought he could smell chamomile) before adding some honey to both cups. “What’s going on? Something seems to be bothering you.”

“Yes.” Phoenix picked up his cup, trying to ignore the way it rattled as he lifted it off the saucer. “There was... Something happened earlier. There was an incident.”

“What happened?” His father asked patiently, though his brow furrowed in concern.

“I was talking to James, and I told him a bit about how scared I am about starting Hogwarts and how I'm worried that I'll be loads behind everyone else, and... James told me it was called a panic attack. Apparently Albus gets them a lot, and – and apparently I do too.” Phoenix wiped his voice to remain calm and steady, but even to his own ears, he still sounded distraught. “It’s - it's not the first time it's happened. I got them sometimes at the orphanage, but after the fire...”

“They're getting worse and more frequent.” His father finished for him. Phoenix set his cup back down and wiped a tear off his cheek.

“Yes. James told me that I should talk to someone I can trust about it, and I... I think I should see a healer about it.” Phoenix said in a small voice.

“Okay.”

“Th-that’s it?”

“Nobody is going to know your mind better than you yourself, and if you think that this is something that you need help with, then I am more than willing to get you the help you need. You're my son now; my job as a parent is to act in you best interests, and I will do so.” Draco set his cup back on the tea tray and looked Phoenix straight in the eye. “I know that this cannot have been an easy conversation for you to broach, and I am very glad that you have trusted me enough to talk to me about this. If you are up for it, I shall book an appointment to take you to St Mungo's tomorrow.”

“Why do we need to book an appointment? Can't you treat me yourself?”

“I’m afraid not, Phoenix.” His father shook his head. “Now that you've been adopted into my family, it would be seen as a conflict of interest; it's inappropriate. In any case, mental health is not my area of expertise.”

“Okay.” Phoenix nodded and took a shaky breath. “Tomorrow, then.”

*****

“How was it?” Scorpius asked, as his father walked into the living room, taking off his cloak and handing it to a house elf. “How was the appointment?”

“It went as well as it could've done, I suppose.” Draco sighed. “Healer Wittericks gave Phoenix a repeat prescription for anti-anxiety potions _and_ pain-relief potions for his migraines. He also recommended booking a course of therapy appointments with Madame Pomfrey once he gets to Hogwarts. He's gone to lie down for a bit now, I think he just needs to be alone for a bit, it was very difficult for him to talk about with the healer.”

“That’s understandable. There's bound to be some sort of lingering trauma after the fire, and from what you've said, it was an existing problem even before then.” Scorpius's grandmother reasoned.

“Yes. It's just... It's hard. I want to be able to make all that pain just disappear, but I can't.” His father grumbled and pouted.

“Such is the mantle of parenthood, I'm afraid, Draco.” Narcissa patted her son's arm consolingly.

*****

The next day saw Draco and Phoenix sitting patiently in the drawing room, awaiting the arrivals of Professors McGonagall and Longbottom. Scorpius had told Phoenix that Professor McGonagall still taught Transfiguration even though she was Headmistress, though she had passed the title of Head of Gryffindor House on to Professor Longbottom, the Herbology professor.

“There is no need for you to be nervous, Phoenix. Professor McGonagall is formidable, but she is fair, and is driven by a good heart. You'll probably be interested to know that she is also an animagus, and even more coincidentally, she _also_ transforms into a cat, just like you.” Draco smiled down at Phoenix sitting next to him. Phoenix was so short that even on the sofa, his legs didn't touch the floor.

“Wow, really?” Phoenix goggled at his father. “What about Professor Longbottom?”

His father sighed heavily, which Phoenix privately thought did not bode well.

“Professor Longbottom was in the same year as me at Hogwarts, along with Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, and the Minister for Magic. I shan't hide from you that I was often cruel to him; I've already told you about what an angry and scared kid I was, and for the most part, Neville Longbottom took the brunt of that. I was a bully, and I made his life at Hogwarts very unpleasant in places. But he is a good, brave man. You know he was the man that killed the Dark Lord's accursed snake Nagini?”

“No way!”

“He did indeed. He was a hero of the Second Wizarding War.”

Suddenly, there was a crack and a house elf appeared in front of them.

“Begging your pardon, masters, but Professors McGonagall and Longbottom have arrived. Shall Tilly be bringing them up here, Master Draco?”

“Thank you, Tilly.” Phoenix's father nodded. “That would be excellent; and if you could get Topsy and Turvy to bring up a pot of Earl Grey and a selection of biscuits, that would be very much appreciated.”

“Very good, Master.” Tilly disapparated with a loud pop.

A couple of minutes later, and Tilly opened the doors to the drawing room and bowed in a very severe-looking old witch (whom Phoenix knew must be Professor McGonagall), and a kind-looking dark-haired man with a round face that must have been Professor Longbottom, he looked about the same age as Phoenix’s dad, anyway.

Phoenix and his father stood up to greet them.

“Professor McGonagall, Professor Longbottom, thank you for taking the time to come and see us today, I know that both of your schedules must be very busy in the lead-up to the school year.”

“Not at all, Mr Malfoy.” Professor McGonagall waved Phoenix’s father down as she sat down and removed her hat. “It is no trouble, I assure you.”

“Indeed. This is a pretty... unique situation, so we were more than happy to come here. The most important thing is making sure that Phoenix’s transition into Hogwarts is as smooth as possible.” The man smiled at Phoenix kindly. “I am Professor Longbottom, Phoenix. I teach Herbology at Hogwarts, and I’m Head of Gryffindor House.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Phoenix inclined his head politely.

“And I am Professor McGonagall. I am the Transfiguration professor, as well as Headmistress.”

“My father told me about you, Professor McGonagall.”

“Did he now?” Professor McGonagall said with an amused smile, glancing at Phoenix’s father over the top of her glasses.

“Yes. He thinks you’re both excellent professors.”

“High praise indeed, from your dad.” Professor Longbottom grinned. “I was in the same year as him at school, you know.”

“I uh – yes. I think he did mention something about that.” Phoenix said awkwardly, not making eye contact.

“Ah.” Professor Longbottom said, leaning back slightly in his chair. “Am I to assume that he told you about our less than friendly relationship at school?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, I don’t think you should judge your dad too harshly, Phoenix. We were kids, it was a long time ago, and we’ve both grown a lot since then. I made my peace with it years ago, it’s water under the bridge.” Professor Longbottom turned to Phoenix's father and smiled.

“Thank you, Neville.” His fastener nodded stiffly, clearly slightly uncomfortable.

“Anyway, to the matter at hand. Your father had told us a little bit about you, Phoenix. Is it true that you are an Animagus?”

“Yes, Professor.” Phoenix nodded, providing them with a demonstration.

“Very impressive.” Professor McGonagall nodded appreciatively over her cup of tea when Phoenix had popped back into human form.

“Thank you. Dad told me that you're and Animagus as well, Professor. Is that true?”

“Quite true.” Professor McGonagall said briskly, briefly turning into a tabby cat and back again.

“Wow.” Phoenix goggled at her.

“I hear that you are also a Legilimens?”

“I am.”

“Okay. Well, you'll appreciate that we do not want you using your abilities either on other students without their permission, or in order to cheat on tests and examinations.” Professor McGonagall said sternly.

“Of course, Professor. I understand.” Phoenix nodded emphatically.

“And we don't want to be catching you out of bed after curfew, or breaking school rules using your Animagus form as a disguise.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now we need to discuss which subjects you wish to be enrolled for.” Professor McGonagall said, pulling out a sheet of parchment and a quill, which she tapped with her wand. The quill poised itself in mid-air, ready to write.

“Obviously, there are the core subjects that all the students take at O.W.L, which are Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, and History of Magic.” Professor McGonagall said, and the quill wrote them all down on the parchment.

“Additionally, in the third year at Hogwarts, students will choose a minimum of two additional subjects, of which the options are Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes.” Professor Longbottom continued. “Do you have any inclination as to which subjects you'll choose?”

“Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes.” Phoenix said at once.

“Okay.” Professor Longbottom said cheerfully as the quill jotted them down. “Now, you'll appreciate that it is highly unusual for a student to join us straight into fifth year – oh don't worry, it won't be a problem.” He said quickly, seeing Phoenix's downcast expression. “We just want to be sure that you're not left completely floundering at this important time in your education.”

“What we would like to suggest,” Professor McGonagall took over, “is that in the first month or so of the school term, Phoenix would have regular meetings with his Head of House, whoever that ends up being, so that they may check and see whether Phoenix is struggling too much in any particular area. If it turns out that there is something that needs to be adapted, we will then be well-oiled to do so.”

“That sound very reasonable. What do you think, Phoenix?” Phoenix's father turned to him.

“Okay.” Phoenix nodded.

“As you are going straight into fifth year, you will of course be able to stay in a fifth year dormitory, though you will go through the Sorting at the Welcoming Feast with the first years.” Professor McGonagall said.

“I think that that's everything we need to say. Do you have any questions for us?” Professor Longbottom asked him.

“Yes.” Phoenix said grimly. “I just have some concerns about Potions in particular. I love the subject and I like to think that I'm quite good at brewing—”

“You are an excellent option brewer and you know it.” His father said, smirking.

“No. I _was_ an excellent option brewer. That was before I lost an arm. I'm just worried about how I'm possibly going to be able to brew potions by myself if I don't have the use of both arms for things like chopping, peeling, and everything. To that effect, how am I going to be able to take any practical classes at all?””

There was a pronounced silence as all three adults processed his words and frowned in thought.

“I have an idea.” His father spoke up. “What if I were to teach Phoenix some simple spells that might help him? If he were able to use his wand to prepare ingredients for his potions, the problem would be solved, I think.”

“Yes, I should think that would work. And it wouldn't break any rules in an exam context either...” Professor McGonagall thought aloud. “Very well. Your father will be able to teach you some spells that should help you overcome this obstacle, and if you get to Hogwarts and are still struggling with any of them, I'm sure your Head of House will be only too willing to help where they can. Does this alleviate some of your concerns?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Very well. I shall enrol you for your chosen subjects, and I look forward to seeing you on the first of September.”

Professors Longbottom and McGonagall bid them goodbye without further ado.

For the rest of the day, Phoenix and his father practiced some spells that would help him with his potions brewing; spells for precise sliding, dicing, chopping, peeling, and by the time Phoenix flopped down into bed, he was feeling much more confident about starting Hogwarts.

*****

The next day, The Potter and The Malfoy families were set to all go back-to-school shopping in Diagon Alley. Phoenix was reading through his equipment list before they headed out.

 

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_   
_Fifth-year students will require:_   
_1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_   
_2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_   
_3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_   
_4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_   
_5\. One set of dress robes (for special occasions)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

_SET BOOKS_   
_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

  * _'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5)' by Miranda Goshawk_
  * _‘A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot_
  * _'Magical Theory' by Adalbert Waffling_
  * _'Intermediate Transfiguration' by Emeric Switch_
  * _'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' by Phyllida Spore_
  * _'Magical Draughts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger_
  * _‘The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts' by Arsenius Jigger_
  * _'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander_
  * _‘The Monster Book of Monsters' by Edwardus Lima_
  * _'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' by Quentin Trimble_
  * _'Spellman's Syllabary' by Rosana Amorim_



_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

  * _1 wand_
  * _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_
  * _1 set glass or crystal phials_
  * _1 telescope_
  * _1 set brass scales_
  * _Students may also bring a pet with them. With regards to more exotic pets, pets that may be venomous or considered otherwise dangerous, or especially large pets, permission to bring them to Hogwarts will be taken and considered on a case-by-case basis. The Hogwarts staff reserves the right to revoke the privilege of any pet’s presence at the school if the pet in question AND/OR the owner of said pet comports themselves in a manner that reflects poorly on the school, becomes a danger to themselves or others, or is detrimental to the student's academic performance._



 

“Are you two ready to go?” Phoenix looked up from his equipment list.

“Yep. All ready.” Scorpius chirped up cheerfully as Phoenix slipped his book list back into his bag (the one James had given him for his birthday).

They met the Potter family in the Leaky Cauldron, where they had an early lunch before stepping through the barrier into Diagon Alley.

“Right. Scorpius, Phoenix, I need to go to the apothecary and stock up on ingredients for work. I'll pick up your Potions ingredients I suppose whilst I'm there.” Their father said. “Just tell the vendors and shopkeepers to charge your bills to the Malfoy vault. I shall meet you in Madam Malkin's robe shop in an hour, shall we say?”

“Sounds good.” Phoenix said. “I want to pop in to Scribbulus Writing Instruments; I need to stick up on ink, parchment, and quills.”

“We’ll go with you.” Said Albus. “We can stop by Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour afterwards.”

“Albus, you just had lunch!” Mrs Potter admonished lightly.

“I know, mum.” Albus rolled his eyes as grinned. “That’s why it's time for dessert.”

*****

“Actually, can we stop in here quickly?” Scorpius asked as they came out of the stationery shop.

“ _You_ want to go into Quality Quidditch Supplies? What for?” Albus said, snorting with laughter.

“Well – now don't any of you go making fun of me, but... well... I was thinking that I might try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team this year.” Scorpius sniffed indignantly.

Albus burst out laughing.

“Al! Don't be a prick.” James said crossly, before he turned to Scorpius. “What position are you going to go for?” He asked kindly.

“Keeper.” Scorpius mumbled, glancing uncertainly at Albus and looking crestfallen. “I figured that I'm okay at spotting patterns and stuff, so I'd be good at figuring out an opposing team's Chasers' tactics.”

“That’s a good idea, Scorpius. I bet you'll do great. I can help you practice if you want. I'm a Chaser, so it'll be really good for you to train. And practice.”

“Thanks James. That's really kind of you.”

“No problem.” James said, leading Scorpius into Quality Quidditch Supplies, the two of them already chatting about when James could come round to Malfoy Manor though practice with him.

“Great. Now I feel like an arsehole.” Albus said sullenly, sitting down heavily on the curb outside the shop.

“Well,” said Phoenix, sitting down next to him, “you could've been nicer to him about it.”

“I thought he was joking!” Albus cried. “As long as I've known him, he's never expressed any interest in playing Quidditch, what was I supposed to think?”

“Well, evidently he wasn't joking, and you hurt his feelings.”

“I know.” Albus sighed, his eyes downcast. “I didn't mean to hurt him. I love him.”

“I know that. And so does he. You just need to apologise is all. Stuff like this happens.” Phoenix shrugged.

“Okay.” Albus nodded. “Hey. When James comes over to help Scorp with Quidditch, can I come over too? We can hang out if you want.”

“Sure. What for?”

“Friends don't need excuses to hang out, but I've still got a fair bit of holiday homework to do, and I figured if you helped me with it, we could get you ready for Hogwarts at the same time. I'm not a genius like Scorpius, I still struggle with a lot of magic. You know they call me the Slytherin Squib?”

“What? That's awful!”

“Yeah. I can still get good grades, I just need to try a lot harder than Scorpius does. But if we went through my homework together, it would help me understand it better by teaching it to another person, and it would help get you up-to-date before school.”

“That... actually sounds like a really good idea. Sounds fun, I'm in.”

“Cool.”

Scorpius and James came out of the shop, Scorpius holding a pair of black dragon hide Keeper's gloves and Quidditch boots in a bag.

“Hey, Scorp. I'm sorry I made fun of you before, that was mean.” Albus said, taking one of Scorpius’s hands in his and running his thumb over the knuckles. “If you want to try out for the Quidditch team, and you're excited about this, then I'm excited for you, and I shouldn't have belittled you like that.”

Scorpius seemed rather bewildered at Albus's apology, while James nodded at his brother, pleased.

“I guess it's okay, Al. It probably was a bit unexpected. But you can make it up to me by buying me ice cream.” Scorpius grinned and tugged Albus along to Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, leaving James and Phoenix to follow behind them.

“I talked to my dad.” Phoenix said abruptly.

James looked at him, confused.

“About...”

“About the panic attacks and anxiety and stuff.”

“Ah.” James said, slowing down. “How did it go?”

“Really well, actually. He didn’t think I was being attention-seeking or anything,, he actually took me seriously and listened to me. He took me to St Mungo's and got me diagnosed and checked out.”

“That's great! I'm really proud of you.” James said, clapping Phoenix on the shoulder.

“Yeah. I'm now on anti-anxiety potions, pain-relief potions, and I'm going to start seeing Madam Pomfrey for therapy once we get to Hogwarts.”

“That's excellent. I'm glad things are working out for you.” James said good-naturedly.

Once the four of them had eaten all the ice cream they could, they went to Madam Malkin's and met up with their parents. Phoenix had to get Hogwarts robes; Scorpius also needed new ones thanks to the growth spurt he'd had in late July, and Albus and Lily both wanted to get new dress robes.

They also stopped by a second-hand clothes store. They had all sorts of odd bits and bobs, and Phoenix managed to find a single left-handed protective dragon hide glove (he, of course, didn’t need a right-handed glove).

Later, in Flourish and Blotts, Phoenix bought all his schoolbooks, and was only stopped from buying all the volumes of The Standard Book of Spells that he'd missed by Scorpius's promise that he could go through his old copies back at home.

It was late in the afternoon when they had finished school shopping and the Potters left to go home. Phoenix and Scorpius walked through Diagon Alley with their father.

“Where to now, Papa?” Phoenix asked.

“I need to get my wand serviced. It could do with a varnish at the very least. And I was wondering, while we're there, do you want to get your wand jazzed up a bit?”

Phoenix looked at his father, confused.

“What do you mean by 'jazzed up'?”

“Well, your wand is how it was when it was sold to you. Some people like to get the designing of their wands pimped up a bit. My father, for example, favoured a very tacky silver snake head on the end of his wand, and he also had this vile walking stick that his wand used to clip in to. Not that this is an example you should follow.”

Their father stopped and pulled out his wand to show Phoenix.

“See here, where these runes are carved and inlaid with silver? That is a familial hedge of protection. I got it done after Scorpius was born. They weren't on the original design. Some people like to update their wand's design with a new grip, or fancy embellishments. Some of the Death Eaters I knew had these awful skull designs modelled after the Dark Mark, but again, that's not something that I would recommend.” Phoenix's father snorted and gave him a little smirk and a wink.

Soon enough, the three Malfoys were entering a small shop that looked something like a Muggle jeweller's. A wizened old man looked up from behind the counter, removing a chunky monocle.

“Good afternoon, sirs. How may I be of assistance?” He said in a throaty voice, his jowls wobbling.

“Hello. I would like to have my wand fully varnished and the silver strengthened on the rune inlay.” Their father showed the shopkeeper his wand while Scorpius and Phoenix looked around at the displays.

There were many different handle and grip designs, ranging from fairly cheap and simple ones, to grossly extravagant ones costing hundreds of Galleons.

“Very well, sir. This should take about ten minutes only.” The shopkeeper said. Their father handed him some gold, and the shopkeeper handed the wand and a receipt for the desired servicing to a shop assistant, who took it to a back room.

Their father joined them to search through a catalogue.

“Find anything you like, either of you?”

“I quite like this.” Scorpius showed their father a silver handle design. It was a simple design of a barn owl's head on the end of the wand, with emeralds for eyes; not too big, not too pretentious. “My patronus is a barn owl.”

“How much does it cost?”

“Twenty Galleons for the size I want.”

“Okay, that sounds reasonable. Go see the shopkeeper, but make sure that the emeralds are genuine and of good quality. I won't have my son wandering around with cheap imitation gems.”

“Thanks, dad!”

Scorpius sprinted to the counter and started questioning the salesman.

“What about you, champ?”

Phoenix pointed out a few of the designs he'd taken a fancy to.

“I think this one is my favourite, though.”

Phoenix hesitated (something Draco noticed that his younger son did a lot when it came to the prospect of having money spent on him), and then pointed to a fairly simple handle design.

The main body of the handle was just the ordinary wand, but on the butt end of the wand, there was fiddly-looking silver filigree, and on the end of the handle nearest the wand tip, there were two thinner designs of the same filigree sandwiching a glittering blue-green ring of dragon-scale.

“Looks nice.”

“It does.” Phoenix agreed, sighing.

“The price?” Draco asked.

“Seventeen Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and twenty-eight Knuts.” Phoenix said promptly.

“And you want this design? With this colour dragon-scale, or a different colour?”

“No, I like this one. It's a... comforting-looking colour. Calm.” Phoenix nodded to himself thoughtfully.

“Okay. Come on then.” Draco clapped his son on the shoulder as they walked over to the counter.

“Ah, here is your wand back, sir. Fully varnished, silver inlay strengthened.” The elderly shopkeeper handed back Draco's wand to him. “Is there anything else I can be doing for your, sir?”

“Indeed. My other son would like this design on his wand's handle, if you please.” Draco said, pointing out the design in the copy of the catalogue that the shopkeeper had on the counter.

“Of course, sir. Would the young lad prefer the ordinary silver, or the goblin-made silver? We have a special offer on goblin-made silver options at the moment, you see. For the size and complexity of the design you're looking at, it would only cost you anything extra two Galleons.”

“We’ll go for the goblin-made silver, please.” Draco said, answering for Phoenix.

“Very good, sir. Altogether, for the designs for both of these fine young gentlemen, you'll be looking at a total of thirty-nine Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and twenty-eight Knuts.”

Draco handed over the gold.

“Thank you very much.” Draco smiled politely.

“You're very welcome, sir. It should only be about fifteen minutes wait for you; would you like to wait here, or come and collect them in a little while?” The shopkeeper asked.

“We will come and collect them in twenty minutes or so. That should give us enough time for a quick drink in the Leaky Cauldron before then.”

“Of course. Just take this copy of your receipt, and it will glow orange when your order is completed and your wands ready to collect.” The shopkeeper said, handing Draco a paper receipt.

“Thank you. Good evening.” Draco nodded simply as he ushered his sons out of the shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I decided to try my hand at fanart, and I drew designs for Phoenix's and Scorpius's modified wand designs because I had very specific ideas in my head for them, but for some reason I wasn't able to insert them into the fic, which is disappointing. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please leave comments and kudos!
> 
> PS. Phoenix will finally be getting to Hogwarts in the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix, Scorpius, Albus, and James get ready to go back to Hogwarts! Phoenix is extremely excited about going to school for the first time, but will it be everything he's dreamed of? What House will be get Sorted into? And when he gets confronted with someone from St Helga's, what will happen? Luckily, his brother and friends have always got his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, so this is a long one! I really hope you enjoy it, I had great fun writing it! Let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> Trigger warning for discussion of anxiety. Stay safe.
> 
> T xx

As August continued on and the prospect of going to Hogwarts fast approached, Phoenix was subjected to intense, though extremely fun, spell-learning lessons taught by his father, and so far he had a fairly good grasp of all the Potions spells that his father wanted him to learn.

“Come on, Phoenix. Remember how we practised it. You have to focus.”

“I know, Papa!” Phoenix snapped. “And I'm trying; but I don't even know why you want me to learn this as well. I've got the hang of all the spells that'll help me in class.”

“I know that. But, this will be a huge help to you at Hogwarts. Being able to perform even basic magic without your wand will be invaluable in helping you make up for the loss of your arm. This way, if you've been disarmed of your wand, or you're having to use it for a separate task entirely, you will still be able to protect yourself and retain a great deal of your independence.”

Phoenix nodded and scuffed his foot against the ground. Currently, Phoenix and his father were standing in a vast marble room on the ground floor of Malfoy Manor; something that might have been used as a banquet hall or a ballroom to host parties for very rich and important people, but now functioned as a fully-equipped duelling practice room.

“So, let's try again. You've already got the hang of the Levitation Charm, now try the Summoning Charm.” His father gave his wand a flick, and a large green apple appeared on the sparklingly clean marble floor. “Same drill as before. First, we’ll get you to cast the spell _with_ your wand, then we’ll take your wand away and you can use your hand to mimic the use of a wand by pointing or gesturing. Then we’ll get you to try and stop using the verbal incantation, instead imagining the spell in your head, and eventually, with enough practice, you won’t even need to use your hand, you’ll be able to perform magic purely out of the fortitude of your own mind.”

“Okay. Accio!” Phoenix said listlessly, easily making the apple fly towards him.

Three hours later, Phoenix had made some progress, in that he was now able to cast the Summoning Charm without his wand, and with a few attempts, he was occasionally able to cast the spell without speaking a word.

*****

Dinner that night was cheerfully relaxed. Narcissa and Draco were drinking a fruity elf-made wine, their cheeks slightly tinged pink as they grew merrier throughout the evening. Scorpius and Phoenix were sipping on smaller glasses of the same wine, whilst using their wands to make their cutlery dance across the table in a complicated waltz. Morpheus and Mona Lisa were attempting to attack the forks on the far end of the vast table.

“Boys.” Draco admonished lightly. “Come on. We did agree that there would be no pets at the table at mealtimes, did we not?”

“Yes, Papa.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Morpheus and Mona Lisa left the room, presumably to cause mischief somewhere else in the Manor, whilst conversation turned to other matters.

“So, boys. School starts next week.” Narcissa opened the conversation and set her wine down on the table as the house elves served dessert. “Phoenix? What House are you hoping to be Sorted into?”

“Slytherin or Hufflepuff.” Phoenix said promptly, smiling broadly.

“Slytherin is indeed a noble Hogwarts House. The vast majority of both sides of your family have been Slytherins, generation upon generation.” Narcissa tilted her chin up proudly.

“Indeed.” Draco said. “But Hufflepuff is also a good choice. Right, Mother?” Draco shot a look at his mother.

“In the past, many people have been known to regard Hufflepuff House as the weakest of the four, the leftovers, the unremarkable students. Once upon a time, I confess I agreed with this assessment. But there have been members of this family that have been Sorted into Hufflepuff; Nymphadora Lupin and Theodore Lupin are excellent examples.”

“But you still want me to be in Slytherin?” Phoenix sighed, frowning slightly.

“No. Since the war, I’ve ‘wised up’, as you children might say. Before, you’re right, I probably would have condemned you being Sorted into any House other than Slytherin, but over time, I’ve come to see that it is a person’s choices who define who they are; every person makes good choices, just as every person makes bad choices throughout their lives. Some choices are difficult, some choices are easy. But sometimes, when you come to a fork in the road, all you can do is just breathe, put one foot in front of the other, and hope that you've taken the right path.”

“Excellently put, Mother.” Draco agreed, raising his glass to his mother. “I think I can speak for everyone sat at this table when I say that you need to do what feels right for you, and you shouldn't worry about what others might think of you.”

“Okay.” Phoenix mumbled, then brightening up. “I am really excited, though. Scorpius told me that the library at Hogwarts is over three times the size of our one! And apparently the forest in the grounds has all sorts of cool magic creatures in it—”

“Creatures that you won't be seeing outside of class. That forest is called the _Forbidden_ Forest for a reason; you're not to go wandering around in there.”

“Yes, Father.” Phoenix said, rolling his eyes. “But is it true that the ceiling in the Great Hall is enchanted to look like the sky outside?”

“Good God, he sounds just like Granger did back when I was a kid.” Draco laughed and clinked his glass with his mother's.

Scorpius and Phoenix started a spirited conversation about the pro's and con's of the different school subjects taught at Hogwarts. Phoenix was taking all the same school subjects as Scorpius (except for Arithmancy, which Scorpius had chosen instead of Care of Magical Creatures).

“But it shouldn't be that bad. I take Arithmancy instead of Care of Magical Creatures, and Albus chose Muggle Studies over Ancient Runes, but you'll always have at least one person you know in all of your classes.”

“That’s good.” Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief. “At least I'll know a few people before I go to school.”

*****

In anticipation of finally starting Hogwarts like he'd been dreaming of for years, Phoenix was throwing himself head-first into studying before the school year commenced. He had ensconced himself in the library, only emerging when forced to shower, eat, or sleep.

On one such day, James and Albus had come over; James was helping Scorpius to prepare for Quidditch Keeper try-outs, and Albus and Phoenix had taken to studying together. This was proving very useful for both of them; they could test each other on parts of their textbooks, exchange notes and ideas, and check over each other's work to make sure it was right. Albus had struggled at Hogwarts thus far, both with the academic and social aspects, but he had confided in Phoenix that he was more hopeful heading into this year at school. And having never been to Hogwarts before, studying with Albus was beyond helpful for Phoenix; he had inside knowledge of the castle, and knew what it was like to feel like you were floundering in lessons.

Phoenix supposed that James must have told Albus, because one morning, as they were sitting down to start studying their Astronomy textbooks, Albus brought up the topic of Phoenix's anxiety.

“So, don’t get mad, but James told me about your anxiety, and that panic attacks are a thing for you.”

“Oh.” Phoenix didn't really know what to say. True, he didn't really mind that Albus knew about it, but he probably would have preferred to tell Albus himself. “Um, okay. Yeah.”

“Please don't be upset with James. I know it wasn't really his place, but he meant well.”

“I mean, I don't mind. Not really. It's just not the nicest thing to talk about.”

“Believe me, I know. And we're not going to make a big deal out of this. We both have similar shit going on, so if you need to chat to someone about it, I'm here for you, mate.” Albus shrugged and took a sip from his water goblet.

“Thanks, Albus. And same for you. You can talk to me about it as well.”

“Thanks.”

Both of them smiled and bent back over their textbooks without further ado, only breaking the companionable silence when either of them had a question or they discussed something in the textbook.

Over on the Malfoy family Quidditch pitch, James and Scorpius were passing the Quaffel back and forth in mid-air.

“So, how are you feeling about try-outs now?” James asked lightly.

“I'm feeling alright. Still a bit nervous, obviously, but I actually think I can do this.”

“Of course you can. You're a natural at this, Scorpius. They'd be idiots not to take you.”

“Thanks James.”

“I wonder how Fen and Al are getting on.” Scorpius thought aloud as he passed the Quaffel to James.

“I bet they’re fine. I think that this'll be useful for both of them, honestly.”

Scorpius hummed in agreement.

“So when are you going to get your act together and ask my brother out?” Scorpius said abruptly, causing James to fumble the Quaffel and have to dive after it before it hit the ground.

“I – uh, what? – No , I mean – yes – but... what?” James blustered, his face turning as red as the Quaffel. “How did you know?” He squeaked weakly.

“Oh please, Albus and I figured it out ages ago.”

“And Phoenix... Does he—?”

“No. He hasn't figured it out yet.”

“Oh thank Merlin.” James stopped holding his breath.

“What are you waiting for, though? Ask him out already! I _know_ he’d say yes!”

“It’s not that I'm nervous about asking him out – well, okay; it is a little bit.” He added as Scorpius raised a sceptical eyebrow. “It’s just that everything is new for him. A lot has changed for him in not a lot of time, and I don't think that it would exactly be very fair if I were to ask him out in the midst of him just starting Hogwarts and everything.”

“Okay.” Scorpius said, gesturing for James to continue.

“I just want to let things settle down for him a bit first. Let him get some security in his life before I hit him with the metaphorical Bludger.”

“That’s... actually very mature of you. And considerate.”

“Well, Merlin’s arsehole, Scorpius! _Try_ not to sound so surprised.” James huffed indignantly.

“No, I didn't mean it like that, James.”

“Whatever. But I was planning on asking him out around Christmastime; that gives him time to settle in to Hogwarts, but not too long that he thinks I'm not interested.”

“Good plan. Al and I were starting to lose hope.”

James stuck his middle finger up at Scorpius, though he was grinning all the same.

“Dick.”

“Okay, okay, I'll stop. I've just got to get this out though. You're my friend, and I trust you, but don't hurt my little brother or I'll curse your bollocks off. Deal?”

“Deal.” James rolled his eyes. “Can we get back to Quidditch now, please?”

*****

In what felt like no time at all, it was the night before term started at Hogwarts.

Phoenix had barely chewed his food at dinner and asked to be excused from the table as soon as possible so he could get back up to his bedroom and pack.

 _“You're running round faster than a hurricane tonight. What's with the rush?”_ Morpheus enquired from where he was curled around the headboard of Phoenix's bed (on which lay a heap of clothes, a tottering pile of schoolbooks, school equipment, and Phoenix's open Hogwarts trunk).

_“We're going to Hogwarts tomorrow. I just need to make sure I have everything I need before I go to bed, because I don't want to be freaking out tomorrow.”_

_“Fair enough.”_

It took Phoenix some time to grasp the concept that he didn’t have to pack everything that he owned; he had a home to come back to now, after all, he didn't need to have everything he possessed with him at all times to make sure that it wasn't stolen as he had had to do at the orphanage. Scorpius came in to help him pack.

“Holy hippogriffs, Fen! It looks like there was an explosion in here!”

“Are you going to help me or just stand there criticising?” Phoenix huffed irritably. Then he deflated and kicked his bedpost. “I’m just... finding it difficult to fold my clothes neatly with only one hand.”

“Dude, this is literally what we have house elves for!” Scorpius gave Phoenix a sympathetic smile. “Binkley!”

“Yes Master?” Binkley squeaked as he popped up next to the fireplace (which Phoenix had had converted into an extra set of bookshelves).

“Could you do us a huge favour and fold all of Phoenix's clothes and pack his trunk? He's just making himself a little crazy about it.” Scorpius said, patting Phoenix on the shoulder.

“Of course, sirs! Binkley is being very happy to help. And Binkley is thinking that he should remind Master Phoenix that Binkley likes to be helpful and that he likes to do things for Master Phoenix.” Binkley levelled his gaze at Phoenix.

“Thank you, Binkley. I'll try to remember that.”

Binkley nodded, mollified, and set to work pristinely folding Phoenix's clothes and packing them into one end of the trunk, using the clothes to pad around any breakable equipment. He packed the books into the other end of the trunk, neatly slotting everything in securely and safely, closing the trunk afterwards.

“There you go, Master Phoenix. All you need to do is to pack all your toiletries after you use them tomorrow morning.”

“That’s great, thank you. I'm going to miss you at Hogwarts.” Phoenix said, smiling kindly.

“Sir, if Master is needing Phoenix whilst he is at Hogwarts, then he need only call Binkley's name. House elves are able to Apparate and Disapparate in and out of the Hogwarts grounds.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

Binkley beamed at him and disappeared with a pop.

“So I guess you’re all ready to go tomorrow then, aren’t you, little brother?” Scorpius ruffled Phoenix’s hair affectionately. Phoenix ducked under Scorpius's hand, laughing.

“Yeah, I guess so. What can you tell me about your dorm-mates? Y'know, in case I get Sorted into Slytherin.” Phoenix asked, levitating his trunk so that it stood out of the way in a corner of the room.

“Well, there's me and Al, obviously. Then there’s only two other boys. There's Alistair O'Flannagan; a mean bastard if ever I met one, and thick as griffin shit. Seriously, watch your back around him and put protective wards up on all your stuff. And then there's Philip Ackerty. Pretty popular guy, so doesn't really talk to Albus and me, but he seems pleasant enough, if a bit of a loud-mouth.” Scorpius shrugged.

“Believe me, I know all about Alistair freakin’ O'Flannagan.” Phoenix spat grumpily.

“You know him?”

“Yeah. He was at St Helga's orphanage as well. He's the one that started the fire by throwing a firework into my cauldron.” Phoenix was shaking now.

“Holy shit, are you serious?” Scorpius said, aghast.

“Yeah.” Phoenix said, his voice wavering. “Oh crap, this is _not_ good.”

“What do we do? Should we tell da—”

“Absolutely not. We're not telling anyone. I always knew I’d be seeing people from the orphanage at Hogwarts, I just didn't think it would be so soon.”

“But dad might be able t—”

“What will he be able to do, Scorpius?” Phoenix said testily, pacing back and forth. “He has no authority at Hogwarts, and it's not like the teachers would really be able to do anything about it either. It's only really going to be a problem if I get Sorted into Slytherin, which might not even happen. If there's a problem at school, I want to be able to deal with it myself. I can’t just go running and crying to my daddy or a teacher every time something goes wrong with another student.” Phoenix took a deep breath and stopped his pacing, rubbing his forehead.

“Fine. I won't say anything. But I don't like it.” Scorpius said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Except for James and Albus. They should know; they have your back.”

“Fine. Thank you, Scorp.” Phoenix expelled a tired sigh.

“Aside from the whole ‘firework-exploding-cauldron-inferno' incident, did you have any real trouble with Alistair?” Scorpius asked. “I always knew that dickhead was bad news.” He muttered darkly.

“Well, there was one time that he pissed me off enough that I threw all his clothes out of the window on to a busy main road, and I slipped him a Diarrhetic Draught once, but he never even sussed that I slipped something into his drink, he never knew that that was me.”

“Oh my life, that's brilliant! So funny!” Scorpius howled with laughter.

“You should've seen his face; it was a sight to behold.”

After they'd laughed at their shared dislike of Alistair O'Flannagan, they decided to go back down and spend some time with their father and grandmother on their last night before leaving for school. The four members of the Malfoy family took tea in the living room and engaged in a family wizard's chess tournament, at which Narcissa thoroughly trounced them all, before they agreed that it was time to go to bed.

*****

The next morning, Phoenix rose early and made sure that he had _everything_ packed after he'd gotten dressed. He summoned Binkley and got him to manoeuvre his trunk into his little black bag, along with Morpheus's wicker basket (he decided to carry Morpheus on his shoulders).

He'd decided to wear a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a grey v-neck jumper (Malfoys still had an image to uphold, after all). Phoenix slipped on a pair of black shoes and decided that he'd wander around the gardens and watch the sun rise. He glanced at the grandfather clock in the foyer and discovered that it was only half-past six in the morning.

He decided to shift into his kitten form once he was outside, and slunk lightly around the grounds, taking some time to sit and look at the elaborate water fountain in front of the mansion, and passing some time watching the fish swimming peacefully in the lake. There was a bench there, looking over the lake from under the shade of a towering oak tree, with a bronze plaque on it that read:

 

_In Loving Memory of Astoria Malfoy_   
_A Beloved Wife and Mother_

 

Phoenix ran his hand over the plaque with a sad smile on his face; the closest thing that he would have had to a loving mother, and he'd never even know her. He did think, though, that it must be much worse for Scorpius and their father. They had known her, loved her, she'd have meant so much to them, and would've left a hole in their hearts that wouldn't ever truly be filled.

Phoenix was wrapped up in his own thoughts, wondering what it would've been like to grow up with a loving mother, as he walked back from the lake into the manor house.

“There you are, Master Phoenix!” A house elf called, hurrying forward.

“Oh. Hello. It's Clipper, right?”

“Yes, sir!” Clipper beamed at him. “Master Scorpius is awake and he is asking for Clipper to find you and bring you to Master Scorpius's bedroom.”

“Okay. What time is it?”

“It is about a quarter to eight o'clock, sir.” Clipper said.

“Okay. Well, I don't want to keep Scorpius waiting any longer than I already have. Can you Apparate me there, please?”

“Of course, sir.” Clipper said cheerily.

Clipper took Phoenix’s hand, and he felt the familiar dark squeezing sensation of Apparition.

“Good morning, Fen.” Scorpius said as he walked out of his en-suite as Clipper suddenly appeared with Phoenix.

“Hey. Clipper said you wanted me?”

“Yeah.” Scorpius said, smiling broadly. “Thought you might just want to chill and hang out a bit before we head to King's Cross Station.”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds great.” Phoenix said, flopping down onto Scorpius's bed and petting Mona Lisa.

“You want me to do something with your hair, or do you want to leave it down?” Scorpius asked, sitting down next to him.

“Thanks. That’d be great actually. I can't really do anything with it by myself.”

“Cool.”

Scorpius gathered the top half of Phoenix's hair and neatly braided it, so that it was out of his face, but he still had hair cascading in his natural thick curls down his shoulders.

“Looks great. Thanks, Scorp.”

“No problem.”

“Want to play a quick game of gobstones before breakfast?” Phoenix suggested.

“Okay. Just a warning, though; I am awful at gobstones.”

It was about half-past nine when they went down for breakfast. The house elves had laid out a magnificent spread to send the two boys off to Hogwarts; they seemed eager to show them that the meals that they served at Malfoy Manor would far outshine anything that they'd get at Hogwarts.

Phoenix piled buttered toast, fried eggs, sausages, bacon, and fried mushrooms onto his plate before taking a seat at the table across from his father and tucking in. A house elf appeared next to him and poured him a cup of coffee.

“Good morning, boys.” Narcissa nodded.

“Are you all packed?” Draco asked them.

“Yes Papa.”

“Of course.”

“Good. Phoenix? Have you got your medications? Remember, you'll get weekly refills from Madame Pomfrey at your therapy sessions.” Phoenix's father fussed.

“Yeah, don't worry, I've got everything. I might just pack a couple of the books that Albus gave me to read.” Phoenix nodded.

“A good book is a uniquely wondrous type of magic.” Narcissa said appreciatively.

“Very true.” Phoenix saluted her with his cup of coffee. “Anyway, how are we getting to King's Cross Station, dad?”

“We’ll be Apparating straight onto the platform. I'll go through with Scorpius and his luggage, and you’ll go through with your grandmother.”

“Cool. My luggage is already packed away in that little black bag that James Potter gave me.”

His grandmother hummed approvingly.

“That truly was an inventive gift.” She mused.

“It's not just that. It was incredibly thoughtful as well. He noticed that this one little thing bothered me for one little moment while we were shopping, and he found a way to help me. He's a good friend.” Phoenix smiled into his coffee cup.

“That he is.” Scorpius agreed. “When shall we leave?”

“Whenever you boys are ready.” Their father stood up. “Scorpius, I'd suggest that you get Harry Hootini to fly to the school, and then we can shrink down his cage and put it in your trunk. That way, we only have your trunk and your broomstick to carry.”

“Good idea. I'll sort it out and I'll meet you in the foyer.”

“Don’t dawdle.” Their father said as Scorpius walked briskly off.

Ten minutes later, Scorpius strolled down the curved marble staircase into the foyer.

“Right. Boys, say goodbye to your elves, it's time to go.” Their father said briskly.

Binkley and Clipper stepped forward and bowed respectfully. Phoenix rolled his eyes and gave Binkley a quick hug, grinning as he said goodbye.

Scorpius disappeared with his luggage and their father, and Phoenix approached his grandmother, his little black bag crossed over his shoulder and Morpheus curled around his wrist like a bracelet.

“Just before we go, my dear, I have something for you.” She held out her hand. “Just a small going away present from your grandmother.”

It was a silver brooch, circular in shape, with a Celtic knot pattern.

“I thought that you could use this to pin the right sleeve of your robes out of the way. That safety pin is much too dull for a Malfoy.” She said with a small wink.

“Thank you, Nana. It's beautiful.” Phoenix hugged his grandmother and slipped the brooch into his bag. Narcissa held her arm out for Phoenix to take.

“Are you ready?”

“As I'll ever be.” Phoenix said, his body thrumming with excitement, before his grandmother Apparated them to Platform 9¾.

Phoenix cleared his vision after being Apparated, and he let out a soft gasp as he took in the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts Express for the first time.

“Oh my goodness. All this time, some little part of me thought that this wasn't real.” He whispered as they were joined by Scorpius and their father.

“Just wait until you see the castle for the first time. It truly is a remarkable sight.” His grandmother whispered back.

“Okay, so there's about twenty minutes until the train leaves. We're just waiting to meet up with the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys, and then you should probably get on the train so that you get a good compartment.”

Everyone nodded, and Scorpius sprinted off to get changed into his robes quickly, coming back so that his father could fasten the green and silver Prefect's badge onto the front of them.

It was only a couple of minutes later when Phoenix and Scorpius heard their names being called, and they turned to see a large gaggle of people jogging towards them, James and Albus in the front.

“Hey A—” Scorpius's greeting was cut off halfway through as Albus barrelled into him and swept him into a deep kiss without so much as a 'hello'. The two of them only stopped when they heard a throat clearing and turned to see Mr and Mrs Potter staring bewildered at their son. Scorpius and Albus parted and waited nervously for the verdict.

Mr Potter sighed and reached his hand into his pocket. For one crazy moment, Phoenix thought that Mr Potter might have been reaching for his wand, but he merely pulled out a handful of coins and passed some of them to his wife, and the rest to a guffawing Mr Weasley.

“Hold on a second, did you bet on our relationship too?” Albus said, dismayed.

“My family did the same thing.” Scorpius muttered.

Ginny Weasley hugged her son.

“We’re proud of you, darling. Just make sure you're being saf—”

“Mum!! Stop! You don't need to have 'the talk' with me. Please!” Albus begged, frantically trying to shush his mother while everyone else laughed.

“So, you’re...” Mr Potter trailed off awkwardly.

“Gay, and dating Scorpius.” Albus confirmed patiently.

“Okay. That’s fine. Take care of each other.”

“Oh yeah! I’m bisexual as well.” James added suddenly. “I like boys _and_ girls. But I’m not dating anyone at the moment.”

“Cool.” Mr Potter said, looking slightly flustered now.

“Al and me had an agreement that I’d come out when he did.” James explained with a grin.

After the laughter had died down, Phoenix was introduced to Mr Weasley, and the children he had with Minister Granger-Weasley, Rose and Hugo; Rose looked to be the same age as Albus, Scorpius, and Phoenix, whilst Hugo looked like he was about Lily’s age.

“What happened to your face?” Hugo asked Phoenix.

“Hugo!” His mother gasped. “That’s rude.”

“Hugo, buddy. Do you remember what me and mum said about thinking about what you're saying before you say it out loud? You need to think about whether what you say is insensitive or not.” Mr Weasley said patiently to his son.

“I wasn't trying to be rude!” Hugo argued. “But I was wondering why his face is like that, and I thought about it, and I still didn't know the answer, so I asked him.” He reasoned.

“It’s fine. I don't mind.” Phoenix said kindly, brushing his hair out the way so Hugo could see the stretching scars on his face more closely. “There was an accident where I was living before, and there was a fire, and I got hurt. That's also why I only have one arm now. See?”

“See, dad?” Hugo pouted at his father. “He didn't mind. And now I have an answer.”

Phoenix and Scorpius were pulled aside by their father and grandmother to say their final goodbyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Phoenix could see the other families in their cohort doing the same.

“Okay, boys. Be good, write to us, and have a good year. Work hard, okay?” Their father pulled them both into a tight hug. “And Scorpius? Please, I'm begging you, no more sodding Time Turners this year, okay?”

Scorpius snorted in laughter.

“I promise.”

“And Phoenix, write to us, okay? I know you're nervous, but it's all going to be alright, okay?” Their father turned to the younger of the two boys.

“I didn't say that I was nervous.” Phoenix said shrewdly to his father.

“You didn’t have to. I felt the exact same way before I started school. It's a big change, it's natural to feel apprehensive.”

“I'll be fine.” Phoenix insisted.

“I know you will be.” Draco said, smiling fondly at both of his sons. He cleared his throat. “Now, go and get on the train. I'll see you both soon.”

Phoenix gave his father and grandmother one last hug before he and Scorpius ran onto the train to join Albus, James, Lily, Rose, and Hugo in the compartment that they'd already settled into.

Morpheus slid off of Phoenix's wrist and up into the luggage rack. Hugo seemed completely fascinated by the snake, and before the train had even left the station, he'd started requesting different colour combinations for Morpheus to do.

The kids all looked out the window and waved at their parents as the train pulled out of the station at precisely eleven o'clock.

“So? How are you feeling?” James grinned at Phoenix. “You excited?”

“Yeah. I'm just getting a bit of a headache, there was a lot of noise on the platform.”

“Do you need one of your headache potions?”

“Yeah, I probably should take one before it gets worse.” Phoenix nodded, rummaging in his little black bag for one of the little potion bottles.

“Okay, Scorpius. Rose. We should probably go now.” James said, standing up.

“Where are you going?” Phoenix asked.

“Rose, Scorpius, and I are all Prefects. We've got to go to the Prefects' carriage at the front of the train for a meeting with the new Head Boy and Head Girl. It's a routine thing, but we'll be back soon.” James explained, smiling apologetically.

The three Prefects left the compartment, leaving Phoenix, Albus, Hugo and Lily to chat among themselves.

“Sorry to bail as well, but I need to go and find some of my friends and catch up with them.” Lily chirped as she skipped out the compartment door.

The trolley witch wandered down the train, and Phoenix, Albus, and Hugo, played a fun guessing game with the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavoured Beans. Phoenix ended up with caramel popcorn, blueberry, beef stew, blue cheese, dirty socks, chocolate, peanut butter, and lastly, watermelon.

James and Scorpius came back a few minutes later and Phoenix was just entertaining them by shifting into a kitten and jumping from seat to seat, when the compartment door banged loudly open.

Standing in the doorway was a very pretty girl with long, light brown hair, wearing a _very_ revealing blouse. She fluttered her eyelashes at James.

“Hey, Jay-Jay.” She said in a giggling, simpering voice.

“Hey.” James said in a decidedly cool manner, his eyebrows drawing together.

 _“Who is this girl?”_ Phoenix asked James using his Legilimency, still in his kitten form.

_“She’s called Tamara Rawshick. She was made a Gryffindor prefect with me last year. Then we dated for a few months.”_

_“What happened?”_

_“Turns out she was just using me because my dad's famous. And I was stupid enough to believe that she actually liked me for me.”_ James replied, sounding crestfallen even in Phoenix's head.

 _“Hold on. I'll get rid of this bitch.”_ Phoenix assured James.

“Jay-Jay! Are you even listening to me?” Tamara pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

“No, sorry. What were you saying?”

“I was _saying_ that you should come and hang out with _me_ and my friends. We have a lot to catch up on.” She said emphatically, winking at James and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

“I’m good thanks.” James said shortly.

Tamara looked like she was going to argue, but Phoenix padded towards her in kitten form and gave her a small meow.

“Oh my _goodness_. Look at the little kitty! It's so cute! Is it yours, Jay-Jay? Aww, the poor baby, it only has three legs!” She immediately reached forward to pick the little kitten up without asking permission. She clutched the kitten to her barely concealed bosom and crooned softly at him.

“Stop calling me Jay-Jay.” James snapped. “He’s called Pipsqueak.”

Tamara ignored James and dangled her finger in front of kitten-Phoenix's face, who hooked his claws deep into her hand and started gnawing on her finger with his needle-sharp teeth.

Phoenix could hear James, Scorpius, Albus, and Hugo barely suppressing their laughter as Tamara winced and tried (unsuccessfully) to wrench herself free from the kitten before he ruined her manicure.

“Ow! James, get it to stop! It's hurting me!” She whined as little red droplets of blood splattered onto her white blouse.

“Okay, Pip.” James said, trying hard to hide his grin. “You can stop now. Leave the nasty girl alone.”

Tamara gaped indignantly as kitten-Phoenix immediately released her and jumped lightly back onto the seat, before snuggling next to James and contentedly purring as he stroked behind his ear.

Tamara huffed and left the compartment without another word, letting the door slam loudly shut behind her. Phoenix hopped back into his own seat and popped back into his normal form. He stood up and gave a little bow, grinning broadly.

“Merlin, that was brilliant!” James chuckled, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“My little brother is an evil genius!” Scorpius said proudly, high-fiving Phoenix.

“Why are your ears all pointy like that?” Hugo asked abruptly. Phoenix noticed that he was a pretty curious guy, and couldn't relax unless he’d got an answer to his question.

“I'm half-goblin.” Phoenix shrugged simply.

Hugo frowned.

“Okay. I mean, that's cool with me, but some people are still dicks about that sort of thing.” Hugo said awkwardly, looking unsurely at Phoenix.

“Yeah.” Phoenix said in a resigned voice. “I figured that there would be some people like that.”

“Don’t worry, though. We've all got your back.” Scorpius said brightly.

“Even Rose?” Phoenix asked, grinning. She hadn't said much to him, and she didn't give off a particularly warm vibe.

“Yeah, well, Rosie's never been particularly friendly, but she's a good egg at heart.” James said.

“Yeah, she still doesn't really like Scorpius all that much, so it might take some time for her to warm up to you.” Albus said.

“But the rest of us definitely do.” Hugo confirmed resolutely.

“Cheers guys.”

The rest of the journey passed pleasantly, and Phoenix spent the last part of the journey gazing out of the train window in hopes of catching a glimpse of Hogwarts castle in the distance.

“Hey Phoenix. We should probably get our robes on now. We'll be arriving soon.” James gave him a nudge.

“Yeah. Okay.”

Phoenix pulled his trunk out of his little black bag, pulling out a white school shirt, black tie, black trousers, Hogwarts robes, and grey school jumper.

It was just Albus, Scorpius, Phoenix, and James in the compartment now; Hugo had gotten changed earlier and had wandered off.  
Phoenix awkwardly buttoned up his shirt and did up his trousers, slipping the school jumper, and then the Hogwarts robes over his head, donning his slip-on black school shoes. He scowled at the tie lying in his hand.

“Hey, want me to do that for you?” James said quietly.

“Please.” Phoenix nodded.

James took the tie out of Phoenix's handsome flipped up the collar of his shirt, sliding the tie in around his neck. This close up, Phoenix could smell James's shampoo, a scent of coconut and honey, which made heart skip and his cheeks flush.

“How does that feel? Tight enough?” James said, clearing his throat slightly and stepping back.

Phoenix pulled at the collar of his shirt.

“Yeah, that seems fine. Thanks, Jay.”

“No problem. If it's any help, though, I found a charm that I thought might be useful for you.” He pulled a little slip of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Phoenix. Phoenix unfolded it and read it.

 

_Apportus Charm_   
_Wand Movement: point your wand at the clothes you wish to put on, and then at yourself._   
_Incantation: 'Apportium'_

 

“Figured you might not want your dorm-mates helping you do something like this.” James said, blushing and straightening the red and gold badges on the front of his robes, one denoting him as a Prefect, the other denoting him as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

Phoenix knocked the wind out of James with a hug.

“This is so nice of you, James. Thank you. Seriously, this is so thoughtful.”

James have him a toothy smile, his freckles practically glowing with the blush on his cheeks.

“Hey. What are friends for?” James winked.

“Would you mind pinning my sleeve up for me?” Phoenix said, holding the brooch out for James to take.

James folded the right sleeves of Phoenix's shirt, jumper, and robes over his chest like Lord Nelson, and deftly pinned them in place.

“There we go. Now put your trunk away and let's join the others.”

Phoenix stepped off the train and onto the platform at Hogsmeade to find it bustling with students and animals, loudly chattering in the chaos.

“Firs’ years! Firs' years this way!!” Came a booming voice from down the platform.

“Hey Hagrid!” Albus called.

“Aye, hello Albus! James! Scorpius! And who's this?” The hulking figure of a huge man came strolling towards them. He had very bushy black hair and a beard liberally streaked with grey, though his beetle-black eyes still shined with the vitality of being young at heart.

“I’m Phoenix, sir.” Phoenix stuttered nervously.

“Ah, the new Malfoy kid. Heard all 'bout yeh from Professor McGonagall, I know yer circumstances. Lemme introduce m’self. I'm Professor Hagrid, I'm the Gamekeeper here, and I'll be teachin' yer Care o' Magical Creatures class too.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Phoenix said.

“And you, lad. I'll be seein' you in class.” Professor Hagrid bent low so he could whisper to Phoenix. “One half-human to another, you come to me if anyone gives ye any guff 'bout it, 'kay?” He gave Phoenix a wink as he straightened back up.

“You're not half-goblin!” Phoenix said stupidly.

Hagrid chortled with laughter.

“Nah, I'm half-giant. Different ends o' the thing.”

“Okay. Well, pleased to meet you, sir.”

“An' you too, Phoenix.”

Hagrid walked off so he could chivvy the first-year students off to one end of the platform, and Scorpius led Phoenix over to a large number of carriages, which were being pulled by skeletal black winged horses; Thestrals. Phoenix paused to watch them briefly, before he allowed himself to be pulled into one of the carriages by Scorpius.

“You can see them, can’t you?” Scorpius said with a sad smile. Phoenix nodded.

“Yeah. Albus and me can see them as well. We saw another student get murdered in front of us last year. His name was Craig Bowker Jr.”

“I’m sorry.” Phoenix didn't really know what else to say.

The carriage rumbled to a stop, and Scorpius opened the door and jumped down. Phoenix followed him out and stopped dead, gawking at the sight of the stone steps of Hogwarts, with the open front doors.

“Come on.” Scorpius whispered, beckoning him forward gently with Albus and James following.

Once in the Entrance Hall, Phoenix got his trunk out of his bag , along with Morpheus's basket. He deposited his trunk with the others students', and put Morpheus in his basket (also slipping his little black bag in there for Morpheus to guard).

Then, he heard his name being called through the hustle and bustle of the students. Professor McGonagall was making her way through the crowd towards them.

“Ah, there you are, Mr Malfoy. If you would follow me, please. This won't take long at all.” She looked from Phoenix, to James, Albus, and Scorpius who were waiting expectantly next to him. “Your friends may come with you, if you wish.”

Phoenix nodded and followed Professor McGonagall without even having to check to make sure that his brother and friends were following. The Headmistress led them to the nearest classroom, shutting the door after they'd all entered.

“Don’t worry, Mr Malfoy. You're not in trouble. I merely thought that you may like to be Sorted away from prying eyes. As you are not a first-year, there is no need for you to be Sorted in front of the school, unless you wish to be, of course.” Professor McGonagall pointed to a three-legged stool with a moth-eaten wizard's hat on it; the famous Sorting Hat.

“What do you say, mate?” Scorpius nudged him with his shoulder, grinning at the shocked look on his brother's face. Phoenix nodded quickly, lost for words.

Professor McGonagall lifted the hat off the chair, and Phoenix practically tripped over his feet in his haste to get to the stool. Professor McGonagall lowered the Sorting Hat onto his head, where it was only prevented from sliding completely over Phoenix’s face by his pointy ears.

 _“Let me see,”_ said a low voice in his head, that Phoenix knew must be the voice of the hat, _“You’re a bit older than I normally have to sort. This should be interesting.”_

Phoenix waited patiently.

_“Well well well... Difficult. Very difficult, indeed. You're undoubtedly very brave, a brilliant mind as well. And very resourceful, a good heart. But where to put you? Process of elimination, perhaps?”_

_“Slytherin or Hufflepuff.”_ Phoenix thought desperately. _“Please, Slytherin or Hufflepuff.”_

 _“Hmmmm.”_ The Sorting Hat debated. _“Yes, I think that those are indeed the two best choices. But of the two... I think that the best bet would be_ SLYTHERIN!” The Sorting Hat shouted the last word aloud, and Phoenix felt the Sorting Hat get pulled off his head, to reveal his friends grinning at him.

Phoenix leaped off the stool and barrelled into an immediate group hug.

“Congratulations, Mr Malfoy.” Professor McGonagall said. “If you would please just step forward quickly.” She requested, drawing her wand.

Phoenix did as well was told, though he eyes her wand warily.

“Normally the house elves do this for the first years overnight.” She explained as she waved her wand over his uniform, so that his tie changed from black to green and silver, his robes were lined with Slytherin green material instead of black with a Slytherin insignia on the chest, and his school jumper had green trim around the cuffs and neckline with a Slytherin insignia on the chest.

“Thank you, Professor.” Phoenix said.

“You're welcome, now go and join your classmates in the Great Hall.” She ushered them out of the classroom and back across to the Great Hall, where students were still filing in. James grabbed Phoenix by the arm.

“Hey, Pipsqueak. I've got to go over to the Gryffindor table, but I'll see you at some point tomorrow, okay? Congratulations, buddy.”

James gave him a quick hug before walking over to the Gryffindor table.

“Come on, Fen. Let's go sit down at the Slytherin table.” Scorpius grinned, dragging Albus and Phoenix after him, pushing Phoenix down into the seat next to him, with Albus sitting across from them.

Glancing around, Phoenix caught a few stares being thrown his way, in particular at his face and arm. He supposed it was only natural; he wasn't someone they'd recognise from school, and obvious physical features like huge freaking scars all over his face and a missing arm were bound to draw attention.

“Yo, Malfoy, who's the newbie?” An attractive boy with swept up brown hair and dark eyes flopped down next to Albus, slouching casually against the table.

“Phoenix. This is Philip Ackerty; he'll be another one of your dorm-mates. He also plays Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Ackerty, this is Phoenix, my newly adopted little brother. He's going to be joining us as a Slytherin fifth-year.”

“That’s unusual... But fair enough. Hey dude.” Philip Ackerty greeted Phoenix. “And Malfoy, or I guess you're just the first Malfoy now, I see you got the Prefect badge. Thank Christ it wasn't O'-fucking-Flannagan.”

“Yeah, I know.” Scorpius agreed. “On the subject of the ugly bugger, though, turns out he and Phoenix know each other, and apparently Alistair's even more awful than usual to Phoenix.”

“God. Sucks to be you, dude.” Philip said.

“Agreed. So, what I'm saying is, just in case he tries something—”

“Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him.” Philip promised.

“How come?” Phoenix asked. “Not that I'm not grateful, but we don't exactly know each other.”

“True. But Slytherins stick together. Unless it's O'Flannagan, that bastard's on his own. We're at least acquaintances now, and in any case, even if I only just met you, I already like you better than Alistair.” Philip shrugged. “Anyway, my nosiness has been satisfied, so I'm going to go back to snogging my girlfriend.” With that, he got up and went back to his previous seat, where he did indeed start heartily kissing a petite Asian girl with pigtails.

“So that’s one of our dorm-mates? He doesn’t seem so bad.” Phoenix reasoned.

“He’s not that bad, we just run in different social circles, so we don’t really hang out at all outside of classes.” Albus said.

The doors to the Great Hall suddenly opened again, and Professor Longbottom was leading in a line of terrified-looking first-years, while a tiny Professor with white hair and beard levitated the Sorting Hat and the stool on which it sat to the front of the hall, stopping just before the staff table. As Phoenix watched the new first-year students anxiously clumping together in a group, he felt a rush of gratitude to Professor McGonagall for sparing him from that. It would indubitably have drawn more attention to him if he'd been the only fifth-year being Sorted with a bunch of first-years (not that anyone would've been able to tell he wasn't a first-year by his height).  
Phoenix cheered along with the other Slytherins whenever a new first-year was Sorted into their House, and before long Professor McGonagall was standing up and announcing the start of the feast.

“You know.” Scorpius said through a mouthful of chicken. “You’re lucky that the first of September fell on a Saturday this year, Fen. It means that we've got the whole of tomorrow to show you around the castle and explore before classes start on Monday!”

“Good point, Scorp.” Albus nodded appreciatively, and leaned in to give Scorpius a little peck on the lips.

“And I can start brewing potions!” Phoenix added excitedly.

“Why do you want to brew potions? We haven't even been set any for class yet!” Albus said incredulously.

“I know that, but I enjoy brewing, and it can't hurt to get some practice in.” Phoenix shrugged.

“Maybe you should've been put in Ravenclaw.” Scorpius joked, sticking his tongue out at Phoenix.

“Absolutely not. I'm quite content where I am, thank you.” Phoenix said haughtily, though he grinned at his brother.

After the food had disappeared from the tables, Professor McGonagall dismissed the students to their Common Rooms.

“Hey, I’ve got to go and bring the first-year kids to the Slytherin common room. Al, can you take Phoenix? The password is ‘Lycanthropy’.” Scorpius hurried off to gather the first-years before the other Slytherin fifth-year prefect, Polly Chapman, could terrify them too much. Albus gestured for Phoenix to follow him.

“Our bags will have already been taken to the dorm.” Albus said. “Get your wand out, I would. We don't know whether we'll get there before O'Flannagan or not.”

Phoenix drew his wand as they walked, trying to take notice of the way they were going.

“First thing we need to do is to put up protective wards around your bed so he can't hurt you while you're asleep.” Albus muttered gravely as they walked through a tapestry into the dungeons.

“D-do you really th-think he's going to try something?” Phoenix stuttered, blanching.

“Well, you know him from the orphanage. Is he really above attacking someone when their guard is down?” Albus raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“Fair point.” Phoenix conceded.

They walked along a torch-lit stone corridor and stopped in front of a wide, bare patch of stone wall in between two forbidding-looking suits of armour.

“Would you like to do the honours?” Albus joked, bowing out of the way.

“Oh! Yeah! Lycanthropy.” He said to the stone wall, which melted away, brick by brick, to reveal a dark stone passageway.

“Well, come on then.” Albus said, leading the way into the tunnel. Phoenix hurriedly made to follow him, and after a short walk, they emerged into a grand-looking room with candle chandeliers and windows that gave the students an underwater view of the lake. Albus gave Phoenix a couple of moments to watch a grindylow lazily swim by one of the huge windows, before he tugged Phoenix's arm to get him to follow him through another door and up a staircase to a door saying 'fifth-years'.

Albus cracked the door open and peered inside. He turned to Phoenix with a defeated with.

“Keep your wand out. He's already in there.”

Albus pushed the door open and led Phoenix inside. A harsh, gruff voice called out.

“Potter! That you? We got more trunks in 'ere than usual, who the fuck d'you recko- YOU!”

There came a roaring yell and Phoenix felt himself getting lifted off the ground and pinned against the wall, the wind knocked out of him as he stared into the snarling face of Alistair O'Flannagan.

“You!” He growled dangerously. “What the fuck are you doin' here, you fucking half-breed?!”

Phoenix was shaking with fright. He could smell Alistair's breath, feel the anger rippling through the larger boy's body.

“O’Flannagan! Get the hell off of him!” Albus yelled, sending a Stinging Hex at his back. Alistair yelled in pain and released Phoenix, who crumpled to the floor, breathing hard.

“Fuckin' stay out of this, Potter! This little shit burned down St Helga's! He's just fucking lucky that my stuff had already been moved to my new house, because _I_ got adopted.”

“So. Did. He.” Came Scorpius's voice from the doorway. Phoenix used Alistair's momentary distraction to get up and scamper to Scorpius's side.

Scorpius looked dangerous. His white-blonde hair was messy, and he was breathing hard, as if he'd run all the way up the stairs from the Common Room. But it was his eyes that looked most unsettling; the normally sparkling grey irises were alight with fire, and Scorpius had his wand pointed straight at Alistair's throat.

“Step the _fuck_ away from my brother, before you get a lot worse than a Stinging Hex shot at you.” Scorpius looked at Phoenix through his peripheral vision. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Scorp.” Phoenix said, stepping half-behind his brother.

“What the hell is going on?” Alistair said dumbly.

“Oh Merlin, did I miss all the fun?” Said Philip Ackerty, sidling past Scorpius and Phoenix, and taking in Albus standing immobile by his bed, Scorpius standing protectively in front of his brother, both with their wands drawn and pointing at Alistair, who was standing there with a look of utter astonishment on his thick face.

“I'm confused.” Alistair’s grumbled.

“Nothing new there, then.” Philip said snidely, flopping down onto his bed. “What happened, my big dumb fellow, is that the kid you apparently tormented was adopted by Scorpius's dad. He's now a Slytherin fifth-year, same as you. Unlike you, he has friends and allies, so I suggest that you calm down before you find yourself in an even stickier situation.” Philip explained airily, examining a fingernail.

“You also just assaulted a prefect's brother.” Albus pointed out with a sly grin, indicating the green and silver badge on Scorpius's robes.

“Good point, babe. So, O'Flannagan, I think we'll make that detention tomorrow evening _and_ Monday evening. You'd best go and tell Slughorn what just happened. Al, could you go with him, and make sure he gives a fair account of things?” Scorpius finally lowered his wand and moved further into the room, Phoenix following him cautiously.

Albus gave Scorpius a lingering kiss as he guided a furious Alistair out of the dormitory, his wand still out, just in case. Once they were gone, Scorpius shut the dormitory door and turned back round to his brother.

“Merlin’s left arse-cheek, I leave you alone for two minutes... Seriously, though. Did he hurt you? You alright?”

“I’m fine. Really. Just a little rattled.” Phoenix breathed, his heartbeat finally starting to slow down.

“Yeah, I bet.” Scorpius said sympathetically, glancing around the room. “Here you go. There's a bed by the window that's free.” Scorpius led Phoenix over to the bed next to Philip's. Phoenix took in the total of five beds in the room, paid out in a horseshoe configuration. “So, this'll be your bed. You’ve got a great view out into the lake. You're next to Philip’s, and you’re opposite mine and Albus's beds.” Scorpius said, heaving his trunk onto the bed opposite his brother's.

Phoenix pulled his own trunk onto his bed, and let Morpheus out of his basket.

_“I heard a commotion. Is everything alright?”_

_“It will be. Turns out that one of my dorm-mates is one of the guys who made my life hell at the orphanage.”_

_“Do you want me to bite him?”_

_“No, because then I’ll have to give him an antidote, and you'll get taken away from me.”_ Phoenix started stroking Morpheus along the top of his head.

“Woah, dude! Cool snake!” Philip exclaimed, coming over for a closer look.

“Thanks. He's called Morpheus.”

“Why that name?”

By way of demonstration, Morpheus changed colour from black to silver and acid-green stripes, and shrank to about ten inches long.

“Wow. He's beautiful.” Philip said appreciatively.

_“This human is very smart. I like him.”_

“You vain serpent, stop showing off.” Phoenix rolled his eyes, turning to Philip. “Thanks, Ackerty. His ego just doubled.”

“What?”

“He can talk to animals.” Scorpius explained as he arranged a few framed photos on his nightstand.

Phoenix rummaged in his little black bag and pulled out the ever-blooming rose in its Butterbeer bottle, the two framed photos that Scorpius had given him for his birthday, and two of the books that Albus had given him, and arranged them all on his bedside table, before levitating all of his clothes into the small wardrobe and chest of drawers on the other side of his bed by the window.

“How can you talk to animals?” Philip asked, frowning, sitting down on Phoenix's bed as Phoenix pushed his trunk underneath the four-poster.

“I'm an Animagus.” Phoenix explained, providing a quick demonstration.

“Oh.” Philip said, clearly still confused. “Then why didn't you transform to get away from O'Flannagan?”

“I'm not going to show him all of the cards in my stack, am I? Gotta keep an ace up my sleeve.” Phoenix grinned mischievously.

“Spoken like a true Slytherin.” Scorpius said, proudly. “Now let’s get those wards put up around your bed before Albus and Alistair get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave comments and kudos, it makes my day to hear what you guys think.
> 
> T xx


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